The Boeing 737 Max 7 receives FAA certification

The United States civil aviation authority has certified the Boeing 737 Max 7. It is the smallest model in the manufacturer's best-selling aircraft family.

Approval comes after almost ten years of delays. It is the result of years of technical verification and in-depth safety reviews.

The required changes covered three areas. The first is an update to the flight control software. The second is an improvement to the alert system for the crew. The third is a redesign of the engine anti-ice system, to remove the risk of overheating.

The origin of the delays

The postponements followed two fatal accidents involving the 737 Max 8 in 2018 and 2019. Further safety and production problems identified in subsequent years were added to those events.

Certification therefore closes a process that began in conditions very different from the usual ones for a commercial aircraft. The authority worked under scrutiny, after its own role in earlier approvals had been called into question.

The market reacted favourably. Boeing's share gained around 6% on Wall Street after the announcement.

For the manufacturer the clearance releases a model awaited by airlines operating lower-capacity routes. The effect on the accounts will nonetheless depend on delivery times and on whether the plants can keep to the planned rates.

The required changes affect systems that concern more than this model alone. The flight control software and the crew alerts are elements shared across the family, and checking them took up the longest part of the process.

The time that has passed nonetheless carries a commercial cost. Almost ten years of waiting left uncovered a segment in which airlines have meanwhile settled their fleet decisions.