Boeing Finishes 737-7 and 737-10 Flight Tests, but Safety Reviews Remain
Boeing said Tuesday, July 28, that it has completed flight testing for the 737-7 and 737-10, moving the smallest and largest 737 MAX variants closer to Federal Aviation Administration certification. CEO Kelly Ortberg announced the milestone during the company’s earnings call, while a Boeing program update detailed the completed 737-10 campaign. The milestone closes a major test phase, but it is not regulatory approval: Boeing reported that the 737-10’s development assurance reviews were 60% complete and its system safety assessments were 32% complete.
Boeing expects the FAA to certify the 737-7 first, followed by the 737-10. Ortberg said he anticipated certification “very soon,” but the company’s formal schedule is broader: both aircraft remain on the path toward certification in 2026, with deliveries expected to begin in 2027. Those dates are Boeing’s planning assumptions, not commitments from the FAA, whose decisions and precise timing remain unresolved.
A substantial flight campaign is only one certification gate
The 737-10 program used three test aircraft to complete 976 flights, more than 2,060 flight hours and approximately 1,040 hours of ground testing. Boeing said the campaign exercised hundreds of systems and included testing under extreme conditions intended to demonstrate safety and performance across the aircraft’s operating envelope.
The final certification flight was an interiors evaluation that checked the audibility of the lavatory smoke-warning system. That is a useful illustration of certification’s scope: the process extends beyond aerodynamic performance and handling qualities to include warning systems, human factors, cabin equipment and the ability of crews to recognize and respond to defined conditions.
Completion of flying means Boeing can now concentrate on closing documentation, analyses and regulatory findings generated by the test program. Development assurance reviews examine whether the aircraft and its systems were developed through controlled processes appropriate to their safety significance. System safety assessments evaluate potential failures, their consequences and whether the design meets the applicable safety requirements.
Those tasks can continue after the test fleet has finished gathering flight data. With only 32% of the 737-10 system safety assessments reported complete, the remaining workload is material even though it does not necessarily require more certification flights. The practical distinction is important for customers planning fleets around 2027: flight-test completion improves schedule visibility, but certification and delivery remain dependent on successful closure of the analytical and regulatory work.
Anti-ice testing has implications across the MAX fleet
The 737-10 campaign also validated an update to the engine anti-ice system. That system uses hot air to prevent ice accumulation around the engine inlet. Boeing had identified rare conditions in which the existing configuration could overheat without pilot intervention or a design change.
Boeing plans to introduce the updated anti-ice configuration in production across every 737 MAX model and retrofit aircraft already in service. That makes the certification work broader than a change confined to the two outstanding variants. It creates a fleetwide production and maintenance program involving incorporation of new hardware during assembly and installation planning for operating aircraft.
The test campaign also advanced an enhanced angle-of-attack system intended to identify sensor faults, simplify flight-deck indications and reduce erroneous warnings. Boeing says that update likewise will enter production across the MAX family and be retrofitted to the in-service fleet. Certification, implementation timing and any associated operating requirements remain subject to regulatory approval.
Years of delay frame the 2027 delivery target
The 737-7 entered flight testing in 2018, when Boeing expected certification and initial deliveries in 2019. Testing of the 737-10 began in 2021 with a targeted 2023 entry into service. Design updates and heightened regulatory requirements following the fatal Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 contributed to the extended schedules.
Ortberg said completing the two flight-test programs will allow Boeing to apply some resources to speed up the completion of the 777 program. Boeing also targets 2027 for the beginning of 777 deliveries, so releasing engineering and test personnel from the narrowbody campaigns could help another delayed certification effort. Resource availability, however, does not replace the aircraft-specific testing, analysis and FAA findings that the 777 must complete.
For the 737-7 and 737-10, the engineering milestone is real but bounded. Boeing has finished collecting the planned flight-test evidence and validated a consequential anti-ice update, yet substantial safety and development reviews remain open. The decisive next step is not another corporate schedule statement; it is closing those reviews to the FAA’s satisfaction so certification can support production configuration, retrofit planning and credible 2027 deliveries.
By David Whitaker — Associate editor for AMI’s aerospace and drone systems desk, translating flight systems, aircraft programs, spaceflight, and UAV developments into accessible technical stories.
