Flight testing on the 737-7 wrapped up in 2021, but Boeing has not completed its share of certification work on the aircraft, the company confirmed.
Boeing revealed in a routine exemption filing to the FAA dated March 24 that the 737-7 is one of three aircraft programs “currently conducting amended type certification (ATC) testing,” along with the 737-10 and the 777-9.
“The flight test program is an element of the overall airplane development program, leading up to the FAA’s granting of the ATC,” Boeing told Aviation Week. “The 737-7 completed its flight test program last year, and we continue to work with the regulator to meet all the necessary requirements for ATC.”
Once slated to enter service in 2019, the 737-7’s certification slowed down during the 737 MAX family’s grounding following two fatal accidents, in 2018 and 2019, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Flight testing was complete before the Dubai Airshow in November 2021, Boeing SVP of commercial customer support and commercial derivative programs Mike Fleming said during the show. “We are getting very close, from our perspective, to having our work done, but of course in all cases the regulators decide when we’re complete and whether they need any more information from us,” Fleming added.
As recently as January, launch customer Southwest Airlines said Boeing was targeting the end of the first quarter 2022 for initial deliveries.
The FAA said it “cannot discuss ongoing certification projects,” adding that “safety will dictate” the 737-7’s approval time line.
Boeing declined to provide details on the remaining 737-7 certification work. It also declined to comment on 737-10 flight-test details, including whether testing has expanded to include the enhanced angle-of-attack (AOA) system that the company agreed to develop to satisfy EASA concerns.
“We are actively flight testing the 737-10 and are not commenting on specific technologies, including enhanced AOA,” Boeing said.
Boeing’s filing is a request to renew a decades-old exemption that allows it to train its pilots in Boeing-owned test and undelivered customer aircraft operated under “special flight permits.” Boeing in its filing said it needs the exemption for anticipated flight tests and pre-delivery flights to support a planned near-term production rate of 39 aircraft per month. While the company did not provide a breakdown, the mix consists of 31 737s, 0.5 747-8s, 3 767s, 3 777s, and 1.5 787s, sources with knowledge of Boeing’s activities told Aviation Week.
Recent production totals suggest some of these figures are near-term targets, not current rates. For instance, Boeing has consistently said it is targeting Rate 31 on the 737 program during the first half of 2022 but has not claimed to be at the figure yet. The sources said the current production-line rate recently reached around 27/month, while January’s and February’s roll-outs totaled about 19 and 23, respectively. Most of the 737 program production is 737 MAX-family models for airline customers, with a few military and business jet variants mixed in.
Production on the 777 line, including both current-generation freighters and yet-to-be-certified 777-9s, is slated to reach 3/month later in 2022, but is currently closer to 2/month.
Boeing rolled out a total of three 787s in January and February, affirming the widebody twin’s monthly production rate is below 2/month while it continues to develop inspection and rework protocols that meet the FAA’s requirements. Boeing has not delivered any 787s in nearly a year and has more than 110 in its undelivered inventory. When deliveries resume, the FAA—not Boeing staff authorized to act on behalf of the agency—will handle final pre-delivery inspections.
The latest round of Boeing’s routine flight-permit exemption renewal request offers more evidence that the FAA is applying extra scrutiny to everything the company does. First granted in 1993, Boeing has applied for renewals every few years, citing the same circumstances as the original exemption request, including a lack of available Boeing-owned aircraft to conduct flight training. Usually, the FAA grants the request without a formal request for more information. This time, Boeing’s November 2021 petition was met with a formal FAA request in December for more information to justify the renewal—the first in more than two decades, a review of the exchanges filed in an online government rulemaking repository showed.
The FAA’s request prompted Boeing’s March 24 response detailing the production rate targets and updated program status. The FAA has not replied to Boeing’s follow-up.
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