The Federal Aviation Administration has certified Boeing’s 737-7, the smallest member of the 737 MAX family, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for the programme’s next phase. The approval allows Boeing to move towards customer deliveries of the short-body model, which remains the latest variant in the MAX line to receive type certification.
Boeing said the 737 MAX family order book now stands at more than 7,200 aircraft, with more than 2,300 delivered by the end of June 2026. The 737-7’s certification follows an extended process shaped by heightened regulatory scrutiny after the 2018 and 2019 MAX crashes.
Type certification is required before an aircraft can enter service and be delivered to airlines, but Boeing did not identify a launch operator or give a first-delivery date for the 737-7. The aircraft has been positioned as the range-focused, smallest-capacity member of the MAX family, serving operators that need a narrow-body jet with lower seat counts and longer stage lengths than the larger 737 MAX variants.