Boeing’s Newest Plane Takes Off For the First Time

On Friday, Boeing Co. took its newest and largest single-aisle airplane on its maiden flight. The Boeing 737 MAX 10 flew over Washington State for approximately 2.5 hours.

This first successful flight sets off what is expected to be months of extensive testing and guaranteeing safety certification of the plane before it is formally added into service in 2023.

The Boeing 737-10 is a 230-seat aircraft that is hoping to compete with Airbus’s 185-to-240-seat A321neo, which is currently the dominant narrowbody jet in the market. Aside from the 737-10, Boeing also has a 178-to-220-seat 737-9 but the gap between it and the A321neo remains prominent.

However, the A321neo will still have an advantage over the 737 MAX 10 in terms of range. The plane from Airbus is able to travel around 4,000 nautical miles (nm) while Boeing’s jet can only go for 3,300 nautical miles.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes said that it’s manufacturing around 16 737 MAX planes a month at its factory in Renton, according to CEO Stan Deal. At the moment, the firm is working on the 737 MAX 10’s safety enhancements.

The MAX 8, which is a smaller plane compared to the MAX 9 and MAX 10, is Boeing’s fastest-selling jet. It has since revamped its efforts to sell more of the MAX 10 with United Airlines and Ireland’s Ryanair being included in its key targets.

Source: Reuters