The 737 MAX 10 in service in a year's time. But it has already lost the challenge to the 'rival' A321LR

It was June 18, 2021, when the largest version of the Boeing 737 MAX, the MAX 10, made its first flight. It took almost two and a half years for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, last November 22, gave the Green light for Boeing to begin the certification process for the aircraft.

'Blame' the Two accidents involving two MAXs in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2019., as a result of which Boeing and the FAA itself ended up at the center of a huge scandal that led to the grounding of all MAXs for about two years. The model has since undergone inspections and testing like no other before, and it can reasonably be said to be the safest jet in the world today.

Obviously, as a result of this, all certification programs, and therefore aircraft deliveries, have been affected with a huge impact on Dozens and dozens of airlines that have been forced to revise their plans Of fleet upgrading.

To date, Two of the four models of the MAX have been certified And they are flying in the skies around the world: the MAX 8 and the MAX 9. The certification of the MAX 7 (the smaller variant) is in progress and Will end in 2024 with the delivery of the first airplane to the low-cost American Southwest Airlines. That of the MAX 10 (the higher-capacity variant) began at full speed as soon as the U.S. manufacturer received the green light from the FAA.

Ihe first flight with FAA technicians and pilots on board took place that same Nov. 22, followed by two more on Nov. 27 and Nov. 28. The process is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, but some speculate that the first delivery will actually take place only in early 2025, so more than a year from now. That is, if no hiccups occur.

The two Main buyers of the MAX 10 are American United Airlines and Irish low-cost Ryanair. The first one ordered 150 for the purpose of also withdraw its fleet of 61 Boeing 757s from service., now moving toward an average age of 25 years. In the domestic version (i.e., dedicated to flights in North America), United will place on the MAX 10 a total of 188 seats (vs. 176 on its Boing 757-200), while on the examples that will have lie-flat seats in Business for the Transatlantic flights between the east coast of the U.S. and the northwestern part of Europe, the seats on board will be between 150 and 160.

What is evident (and an obvious failure of Boeing) is that the MAX 10 will not be able to compete, especially in terms of flight range, with the Airbus A321LR (and even less so with the A321XLR), as the long-range version of the European bireactor has a maximum range of 4,000 nautical miles (7,400km), compared with 3,100 nautical miles (5,700km) for the MAX 10.

The MAX 7, which, on the other hand, in terms of range is close to the European 'competitor' (3,800 nautical miles equal to 7,040km) is however too small to compete with the A321LR, since, in a long-haul configuration with lie-flat seats, it would be able to carry no more than 120 passengers compared to 160-170 for its European rival.

Those who certainly don't care about these things are the other big buyers of the MAX 10: the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair, which has ordered a similar number as United. For Ryanair, as everyone knows, it matters only. The number of seats you can stack on an airplane: 228 in the case of the MAX 10, which will make it (in this case where flight range matters relatively) an excellent tool to enable the Irish low-cost Compete with the A321neo of rivals Wizzair and easyjet.

In all, for the MAX 10 Boeing has so far received 810 orders, making it the most successful version of MAX behind the MAX 8 (965 delivered and 2,700 yet to be delivered), but in front of the MAX 9 (187 aircraft delivered and 137 yet to be delivered) and to the MAX 7 (297 orders received so far).