Southwest sees 10 Max jets in fleet before first flights in 2017

Southwest Airlines expects to take delivery of 10 of the latest version of Boeing’s 737 before it begins flying the aircraft commercially next year, a consequence of the plane’s smoother-than-expected development. The airline is still discussing a delivery schedule for the Max 8 with Boeing and plans to take the planes by late August or early September of next year, Southwest COO Mike Van de Ven said Friday. Boeing has said the plane will be ready to make its debut in Q2. The Max 8 will allow Southwest to fly farther than it can now, a benefit as the carrier begins to expand its young international operations. It also offers a fuel-efficiency improvement of about 14% over current models and will be the first with the Leap-1B engine built by CFM International. <br/>