The Boeing 737 MAX: A Complete Guide

The Boeing 737 MAX is the best-selling narrowbody aircraft in history, with over 17,300 orders placed for the entire 737 family since the original entered service in 1968. 

The MAX generation alone carries a backlog of over 4,800 aircraft as of early-2026, and accounts for roughly two-thirds of all Boeing commercial deliveries today. 

It’s also one of the most controversial aircraft programmes of the modern era, having been grounded worldwide for 20 months following two fatal crashes, then thrust back into the headlines by a door plug blowout in January 2024. 

Despite all of that, airlines keep ordering it. Here’s why, and everything else you need to know about the 737 MAX.

What Is The 737 MAX?

The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the 737 family, powered by CFM International LEAP-1B engines. The MAX line replaces the 737 Next Generation (NG) series and offers airlines around 20% lower fuel burn per seat compared to the 737-800 it succeeded, along with a smaller noise footprint, improved aerodynamics via Advanced Technology winglets, and a redesigned interior based on the 787 Sky Interior concept.

Boeing launched the MAX programme in August 2011, in direct response to Airbus’s announcement of the A320neo family the previous year. The first MAX 8 entered commercial service with Malindo Air in May 2017, about a year ahead of the competing A320neo family in terms of direct market timing.

For the latest news on the 737 MAX, head to Dj’s Aviation.

The Variants

The Boeing 737 MAX family has four main members, though two are still working through the certification process.

737 MAX 7 is the smallest variant, designed to seat 138 to 153 passengers in a two-class layout, with a range of up to 3,850 nautical miles. It’s essentially a replacement for the 737-700, and Southwest Airlines has ordered 234 of them. Despite the MAX 7 completing its first flight in 2018, certification has been repeatedly delayed due to an engine anti-ice system issue affecting all MAX variants. Boeing completed the redesign of that system in November 2025, and the MAX 7 is now awaiting FAA approval, with the first delivery expected to a business jet customer and Southwest deliveries pencilled in for 2026 or 2027.

737 MAX 8 is the workhorse of the family and by far the best-seller. It seats 162 to 178 passengers in a typical two-class configuration and has a range of around 3,500 nautical miles. The MAX 8 was certified in March 2017 and accounts for the vast majority of MAX deliveries. A high-density subvariant, the MAX 8-200, seats up to 200 passengers and was designed specifically for low-cost carriers. Ryanair is its primary operator, and the Irish carrier’s entire fleet of MAX aircraft is in the 8-200 configuration.

The 737 MAX 9 sits between the 8 and 10, seating 178 to 193 passengers and offering a 3,515-nautical-mile range. It entered service in March 2018 with Lion Air as the launch customer and is operated extensively by United Airlines and Alaska Airlines in the US. The MAX 9 was the aircraft at the centre of the January 2024 Alaska Airlines door plug incident, which triggered an FAA production cap on all MAX variants.

The 737 MAX 10 is the largest member of the family, measuring 43.8 metres and typically seating 204 passengers in a two-class layout. It competes most directly with the Airbus A321neo, though it falls short of the A321neo’s range by around 1,200 nautical miles. The MAX 10 has accumulated over 1,400 firm orders despite not yet entering service. Certification has been delayed into 2026, with the first delivery expected to WestJet in 2027. United Airlines and Ryanair are the biggest customers.

A History Of Crises

No article about the 737 MAX can skip the safety history, and it’s a significant one. Two crashes, both involving the MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) flight control software, killed 346 people and grounded every MAX worldwide from March 2019 to November 2020.

Lion Air Flight 610 went down in Indonesia in October 2018, five months before Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed in March 2019. Both aircraft suffered from faulty angle-of-attack sensor data, triggering the MCAS system, which repeatedly forced the nose down while pilots tried to recover control.

The 20-month grounding was the longest of any commercial aircraft programme in history. Boeing paid more than $2.5 billion in criminal, civil, and compensation settlements. The MAX returned to service with revised MCAS software, new pilot training requirements, and revised FAA oversight protocols.

Then came January 2024. A door plug on an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 detached mid-flight at 16,000 feet, creating a hole in the fuselage and causing rapid decompression. No passengers were seated in that row, and there were no fatalities, but the incident exposed ongoing production quality failures at Boeing’s Renton factory.

The FAA capped Boeing 737 MAX production at 38 aircraft per month and launched investigations into manufacturing processes. That cap remained in place until October 2025, when the FAA lifted it, allowing production to increase to 42 aircraft per month. Boeing’s December 2025 acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems, which manufactures around 70% of the 737’s fuselage, was directly linked to improving end-to-end quality control.

Orders, Deliveries, and Who’s Buying

Despite the MAX’s troubled history, the backlog tells you everything about its commercial resilience. As of mid-2025, Boeing held orders for nearly 4,763 MAX aircraft. According to Boeing’s own orders and deliveries data, the 737 MAX accounted for more than two-thirds of all Boeing deliveries in 2025, with over 400 MAX aircraft handed over during the year.

Southwest Airlines is the world’s largest 737 MAX operator with close to 300 aircraft in service, and remains deeply committed to the family through its MAX 7 orders. Ryanair operates the MAX 8-200 extensively and has significant MAX 10 orders pending certification.

United Airlines operates both the MAX 8 and MAX 9 and has hundreds of MAX 10s on order. American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and dozens of international carriers, including Turkish Airlines, flydubai, Aeromexico, and Copa Airlines, all operate significant MAX fleets.

Chinese carriers have historically been major 737 customers, but US-China trade tensions led China to halt acceptance of new MAX deliveries in 2025. Aircraft positioned for delivery in Zhoushan were returned to Seattle and stored at Moses Lake, Washington. Resolution of this impasse will be a significant factor in Boeing’s near-term delivery recovery.

How Does It Compare To The Airbus A320neo?

The Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo families are the two dominant narrowbody aircraft in the world, and the competition between them has defined commercial aviation for the past decade. In general terms, the A320neo family is wider, offering airlines the option of 18-inch economy seats in a 3-3 layout compared to the MAX’s 17-inch seats in the same configuration.

The A321neo and A321XLR have a significant range advantage over the MAX 9 and MAX 10, which becomes particularly relevant for transatlantic and long-thin routes. The MAX 8 and MAX 9 are broadly competitive with the A320neo and A321neo on short and medium-haul routes where range isn’t the deciding factor.

Fleet commonality matters enormously to airlines, and carriers deeply embedded in the MAX family, particularly those that operate 737 NGs alongside MAX aircraft, have strong reasons to stay in the Boeing ecosystem. The same logic applies to A320 family operators on the Airbus side.

What’s Next

Boeing is targeting production of 47 MAX aircraft per month by mid-2026, rising above 50 per month by year’s end, with a long-term goal of 60 per month to work through its backlog. The MAX 7 and MAX 10 certifications are the critical near-term milestones, with the MAX 10 in particular carrying significant commercial importance given its order book.

Beyond the MAX, Boeing’s next narrowbody will likely not arrive until the mid-2030s at the earliest. Until then, the Boeing 737 MAX is the single most important commercial programme, and its continued recovery will determine the company’s financial trajectory for the rest of the decade.