The smallest jet in Boeing’s 737 MAX family is finally near the end of its certification marathon, with Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford saying the agency has found nothing that would stop the MAX 7 from winning approval this summer. Speaking at an aviation forum in Washington in late May, Bedford said regulators had not identified any issue that would push certification of either the MAX 7 or the larger MAX 10 past the end of 2026 — the clearest signal yet after a program that has slipped repeatedly since 2019.

Boeing Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg backed that up at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on May 27, telling investors the company had completed roughly 80% of the certification flight-test program for both variants and had already received every Type Inspection Authorization it needed from the FAA. “There’s clearly light at the end of the tunnel here,” Ortberg said, adding that the MAX 7 would be certified first, with the MAX 10 following close behind. The MAX 10 entered the final stage of certification flight testing, known as Type Inspection Authorization Phase 2, during the first quarter.

The delays trace back to a single stubborn problem. The engine anti-ice system on the jets’ CFM International LEAP-1B engines could overheat the inlet inner barrels and, in rare cases, cause them to fail — a defect Boeing disclosed in 2023 that forced a full redesign and years of extra testing. Boeing has also built a revised crew-alerting system that Congress mandated after the two MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, and it plans to retrofit the change across the fleet. The program has operated under intense scrutiny since a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 in January 2024, prompting the FAA to cap 737 output at 38 jets a month.

No customer has more riding on the MAX 7 than Southwest Airlines, which holds roughly 90% of all orders for the type — about 289 aircraft. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan has said he expects FAA approval by August, with the airline putting the jet into service in the first quarter of 2027. The 138-to-153-seat MAX 7 will replace Southwest’s aging 737-700s and ease capacity pressure at slot-constrained hubs such as Dallas Love Field. At 116 feet long, the MAX 7 is Boeing’s answer to the Airbus A220 in the smallest slice of the single-aisle market.

The business stakes reach well beyond one model. Boeing closed the first quarter with a record backlog of about $695 billion, including more than 6,100 commercial jets, and its 737 MAX order book alone tops 4,850 aircraft. The company delivered 143 planes in the first quarter, up 10% from a year earlier. Certifying the MAX 7 and MAX 10 lets Boeing start converting that backlog into cash, and it clears the way for a production ramp the FAA has already blessed — from 42 jets a month toward 47, then 52 in early 2027, aided by a fourth 737 line at Boeing’s Everett, Washington, plant.

The MAX 10 carries the heavier commercial load. With about 1,431 orders, it is Boeing’s closest competitor to the Airbus A321neo and long-range A321XLR in the high-capacity narrowbody segment that Airbus has dominated. United Airlines leads the book with 277 on order, followed by Alaska Airlines with about 105, along with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Pegasus Airlines and Ryanair, which holds 150 firm orders plus 150 options. Combined orders for the two variants exceed 1,700 aircraft, with first deliveries planned for 2027.

What remains is the flight testing itself. Ortberg framed it as running out the clock — working through the last test points rather than clearing new technical hurdles — but the FAA has shown it will take its time and could still surface issues before signing off. If the summer window holds, Boeing closes the final major certification gap in its narrowbody lineup and hands airlines the jets they ordered years ago. If it slips again, carriers that have already rebuilt fleet plans around the aircraft will be waiting a while longer.

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