Alaska Airlines expects to take delivery of its first Boeing 737 Max 10 late in 2026 or early the following year, suggesting that certification of the next-generation narrowbody jets may remain elusive for some time.
Chief commercial officer Andrew Harrison revealed the updated timeline during Alaska Air Group’s 24 July earnings call, saying “We’re excited to get the [Max 10] into the fleet, hopefully later next year or early the year after”.
Seattle-based Alaska previously expected to take delivery of its first Max 10 this year, then later suggested it could start taking the most-stretched variant of the 737 Max family from Boeing in mid-2026.
Harrison says Alaska views its incoming Max 10s and 787-9 widebodies as linchpins of future operations, and is ”very committed to Boeing and the Max aircraft”.
Earlier this month, United Airlines disclosed that it expects delivery of its first Max 10 in 2027 or later, underlining the uncertainty surrounding certification from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Boeing declines to comment specifically on the certification timelines for the Max 7 and Max 10 ahead of its quarterly earnings call next week, though it alludes to a potential setback on engine anti-ice system work that is pacing certification of both variants.
“We are maturing a technical solution that includes design updates,” the US airframer says. ”The modifications would be included in the baseline certification of the [Max 7] and [Max 10]. We are finalising our analysis and will present the information to the FAA.
“We will continue to work under their rigorous oversight to meet safety and regulatory requirements.”
Certification of the Max 7 and Max 10 have already been badly delayed following the dual 737 crashes of 2018 and 2019, as Boeing and the FAA came under intense scrutiny for how certification of the Max 8 and Max 9 were handled. The crashes killed a combined total of 346 people.
In June, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Stephanie Pope told FlightGlobal that it was progressing on development of an engine anti-ice system, but a solution was taking “longer than anticipated”.
Boeing has previously planned to complete testing and analysis of those systems with partners GE Aerospace and CFM International this month, then to “update our customers on the path forward”, Pope said.
Boeing is also seeking an FAA exemption for a stall-management yaw damper system on the Max 7 and Max 10 that it says does not meet increased regulatory requirements, presenting another hurdle to certification.
The US airframer is still prioritising certification of the Max 7, the smallest variant in the 737 family, despite stronger demand for the most-stretched Max 10 variant. That is because the Max 7 is slightly closer to achieving certification than the Max 10 on a technical level, according to Pope.
“The majority of the work is done,” she said. “It’s all about engineering. Once we get the engine anti-ice solution… I expect you’ll see them close together.”
