Boeing CEO still confident in Max 7’s certification in 2022

Boeing CE David Calhoun remains optimistic the FAA will certificate the 737 Max 7 before year-end – and before a critical regulatory change. He is less optimistic that the larger Max 10’s clearance will come in time, however. “I do. I do,” Calhoun said on 15 September when asked if he thinks federal aviation regulators will green light the Max 7 before the end of 2022. Boeing has been working to get both jets certificated before a regulatory change that will require newly certificated aircraft to have a modern cockpit warning system for pilots. The requirement comes from a law signed by President Donald Trump on 27 December 2020. Under that law, starting two years after its enactment, the FAA cannot certificate transport aircraft that do not have a “flight crew alerting systems”. Boeing’s 737 Max lacks that type of modern, centralised system, which displays and prioritises cockpit warnings, helping pilots work through issues. Instead, the Max’s cockpit alert system is essentially unchanged from previous-generation 737s. It involves two panels and lacks the same prioritisation function. Boeing insists the legacy system is safe, and some safety experts agree, questioning whether introducing changes to a system well understood by pilots could introduce new risks. Analysts and experts widely agree that equipping the Max with more-modern alerting technology would be enormously costly and time-consuming. FAA acting administrator Billy Nolen declines to discuss any timeline for when the FAA might complete the Max 7’s and 10’s certifications. “Our goal will be to make sure that we do all of our certification work safely, and the safety will always dictate our time,” Nolen tells FlightGlobal on 15 September.<br/>