The US Federal Aviation Administration does not expect the certification of B737-10 before summer 2023. The final type approval of the B737-7 will happen earlier but is also behind schedule, Reuters reported citing a letter from the regulator.
The delay could have major consequences for Boeing (BOE, Washington National) due to the planned regulatory changes, which would require all types certified after January 1, 2023, in the US to be equipped with a comprehensive crew alerting system. The B737 MAX does not have such a system. Boeing is currently lobbying for an extension, which would allow for certifying the B737-7 and -10 under the old rules. Otherwise, the manufacturer would have to rebuild the types and said that it could abandon the certification of the two variants.
US Senator Roger Wicker recently submitted a draft bill that would grant the manufacturer an extension until September 2024 through an amendment to the annual defence budget bill, but it still has to be approved by the Senate.
The B737-7 will have to be certified before the -10, as parts of the larger variant's certification rely on documentation pertaining to the -7.
Boeing currently has firm orders for 294 -7s (the biggest from Southwest Airlines for 240 units) and 741 -10s (the largest coming from United Airlines for 252 units, VietJetAir for 106, and Delta Air Lines for 100). The variants comprise a minority of the unfilled orders for B737 MAX - the manufacturer has orders for 4,204 narrowbodies, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.
