Boeing's newest version of the 737 Max makes first flight
Boeing’s newest version of the 737 Max jetliner has taken flight
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Boeing's newest version of the 737 Max jetliner made its first test flight Friday, taking off near Seattle for an expected two-hour trip that the company hopes will signal improving fortunes for its most important plane.
The Max 10 is a slightly larger version of Max jets that are already flying. It is designed to seat up to 230 passengers and compete with the A321neo from European rival Airbus
Chicago-based Boeing expects to begin delivering Max 10s to airlines in 2023.
Max jets get better fuel mileage than previous versions of Boeing’s venerable 737. Airlines began using the plane in 2017, but Max 8 and Max 9 planes were grounded worldwide for nearly two years after crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 killed a total of 346 people.
U.S. regulators cleared the way for Max jets to resume flying late last year after Boeing made changes, including overhauling flight-control software that played a role in the crashes. This spring, about 100 new Max jets were idled for several weeks because of an unrelated problem with electrical grounding of cockpit instruments.
The grounding of Max jets and reduced demand for planes because of the pandemic pushed Boeing Co. to an $8.4 billion loss last year.