Boeing’s Massive 2026 For 737 MAX

2206 is shaping up to be a critical year for Boeing and its single-aisle 737 MAX after years of turbulence.

The manufacturer will need to certify long-delayed models while also increasing year-round production.

Progress in these areas will be critical not just to Boeing’s perfromance, but more importantly to its brand image, financial position, and much more.

Planned Production Increases

One of the most significant areas of focus for the American planemaker is the production status of its 737 MAX, a focus that comes as rates have been capped for nearly two years following a door blowout incident on an Alaska Airlines jet.

Towards the end of 2025, Boeing finally received the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval to increase production rates from the long-standing cap of 38 per month to 42, but that’s not the final target figure.

Speaking days before Christmas, the planemaker’s Vice President of the 737 programme, Kathrin Rinngold, said that the business was already well on its way to making meaningful progress on rising production and further increasing the number of units to 47 jets.

To achieve these production increases, many pillars of the planemaker’s operations need to move in the right direction, with Boeing remaining committed and laying the groundwork to make this a reality.

Rinngold said that the planemaker was seeing its suppliers increase their work rates to sustain 47 jets per month as soon as the next couple of months. This is a move to ensure Boeing doesn’t fall further behind in deliveries, as key parts are transported across the supply chain from right around the world before arriving at Boeing factories.

However, it’s more than just the planemaker’s ability to work closely with suppliers to support a prospective increase; Boeing must also gain the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval to move ahead with a production increase.

The FAA has been watching Boeing closely, analysing its production practices following the Alaska Airlines door-blowout incident to understand better what has gone wrong internally to allow the persistent slip-ups and to prevent this from happening again.

A cap on production was intended to slow down Boeing’s work and to ensure the manufacturer could get back to doing what it does best: producing quality aircraft, with the sole focus on profit and meeting deadlines for financial gain, not solely at the forefront, safety coming first.

With this in mind, the FAA needs to continue to see from Boeing that meaningful investments in the culture shift have also translated into quality improvements, so they can permit further increases, which are more than likely planned for 2026 but cannot be guaranteed just yet.

What About Certification?

Away from production jumps on the 737 MAX, the approval of uncertified aircraft in the MAX family is also critical.

The 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 10 are long-overdue aircraft that, in an ideal scenario, should have entered service years ago. By 2026, they still have not completed a scheduled passenger flight.

These two variants are expected to be crucial for specific airlines’ fleet growth and renewal efforts, with many customers not only being patient but also forced to cut growth plans due to delays across these programs.

Boeing must achieve certification for these two models in 2026 to allow deliveries to commence and ease the burden on airlines, just as much as on itself, with these two problem-child jets.

The 737 MAX 10, among the two unapproved variants, remains the more critical for the American planemaker, as it has more orders and is expected to deliver better profit margins for airlines; it needs to be approved. It is inching closer to the end of the certification program.

There is the belief that the greenlight will arrive in 2026, following positive comments from WestJet surrounding their belief they’ll get their hands on the aircraft sooner rather than later; however, unfortunately, certification can never quite be guaranteed until the last moment, as has been visible with all the lengthy delays thus far.