The US Federal Aviation Administration approved Boeing’s 737 Max 10 on October 21, 2026, almost 10 years after the aircraft was introduced at the Paris Air Show in 2017, France 24 reported, and deliveries are expected to begin in 2027. The jet seats 185 to 210 passengers, compared with 175 to 195 on the Max 9 and 160 to 180 on the Max 8, and it was designed to compete with Airbus’s A321neo. Boeing has 1,555 Max 10s on order from more than 30 customers, about 30 percent of its total 737 Max backlog, including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Ryanair. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, speaking at Boeing’s Everett, Washington, facility, said: “To think that it took us almost 10 years to get here.”
The case that the approval is a major relief for Boeing rests on the size of the order book. With 1,555 aircraft ordered, the Max 10 accounts for roughly three of every ten aircraft in the 737 Max backlog, and its customers include some of the largest airlines in the United States and Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier. Alaska Airlines ordered 105 Max 10s in January, with 35 additional options, which shows that demand has continued during the delay. The approval follows the certification of the Max 7 in August 2026, so Boeing now has both the Max 7 and the Max 10 cleared, and the FAA has eased restrictions on the company over the past 18 months, a sign that regulators are satisfied with its progress. Duffy’s remark shows that the government also sees the milestone as significant.
The case for caution is that the aircraft’s history makes every step of the process a matter of trust. Two deadly Max 8 crashes, in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019, killed 346 people, and in 2024 a panel flew off an Alaska Airlines Max 9, so the model’s safety record has been scrutinised in a way that few other aircraft have. The nearly 10 years it took to certify the Max 10 shows how many obstacles Boeing faced, and deliveries will not start until 2027, which leaves customers waiting. The airlines that ordered it will want evidence that earlier problems have been resolved before they take delivery.
The approval matters for airlines, passengers and the aviation industry because the Max 10 is Boeing’s answer to Airbus’s A321neo. For Boeing, which has struggled with delays and safety scandals, the milestone allows it to start converting orders into revenue, and for airlines, it offers a bigger aircraft for busy routes. For travellers, the key question is the safety record of the whole 737 family, which will determine public confidence. Alaska Airlines’ order of 105 jets, with 35 further options, is the largest single customer commitment mentioned in the report, and the approval clears the way for the first aircraft to enter service in 2027.
The Max 10 has its approval after almost a decade, and Boeing has a long order book to fill. The first deliveries in 2027 will show whether the plane can turn trust into profit.
