Boeing (BA.US) performance recovery engine roars! Three delayed aircraft sprint certification cash flow and balance sheets reached a critical inflection point

The Zhitong Finance App learned that American aerospace giant Boeing (BA.US) said that the three jet airliner models whose orders and certification schedules have been delayed for a long time are close to completing the process certification process. The company is now gradually recovering production capacity after years of operating strategy and quality control mistakes that have weakened the balance sheet of the world's largest aircraft manufacturer and triggered stricter scrutiny by US federal regulators.

The Boeing 737 MAX 7 is the smallest aircraft model in its best-selling aircraft series and is expected to be certified this year. Chris Payne, vice president of aircraft development at the Boeing 737, said that the US aircraft manufacturer's entire certification delivery project has completed 95% of its progress.

Payne said at a briefing held in the Seattle area that all required test flight projects have been completed, and Boeing is currently in the final stages of promoting certification of solutions to engine anti-icing system problems.

Payne said that 98% of the MAX 10's flight tests have been completed, leaving only two test flights. The MAX 10 is the largest model in the series, can carry 230 passengers and compete fiercely with Airbus' best-selling A321neo.

The certification of MAX 7 and MAX 10 has been delayed for years. If Boeing is to restore its ability to generate cash and repair its balance sheet after years of losses, it is essential to get these two models and the huge 777X wide-body airliner certified.

Two fatal 737 MAX crashes occurred in a row in 2018 and 2019, prompting regulators to scrutinize the aircraft's system and grounded it for nearly two years. As part of approving the MAX 8 and MAX 9 to resume operations, European aerospace regulators require Boeing to improve the system resilience of MAX series aircraft in the event of a failure of any angle of attack sensor before the MAX 7 and MAX 10 are approved. This new system also needs to be installed on aircraft that are already in operation.

The major incident that previously led to Boeing 737 MAX production capacity being controlled by the federal government was the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 accident on January 5, 2024: After an almost brand new 737 MAX 9 took off, the “hatch” in the middle of the fuselage fell off in the air and caused an explosive loss of pressure. Follow-up investigations revealed that the hatch lacked 4 key fixing bolts after being repaired at the Boeing factory, revealing systemic flaws in manufacturing, documentation, and quality control. The FAA then banned Boeing from expanding 737 MAX production on January 24, 2024, and actually set the monthly production limit to 38.

The original production capacity limit of 38 units/month has been lifted. The FAA approved Boeing increase in production to 42 aircrafts/month in October 2025, ending the hard limit implemented in early 2024; in May 2026, it also supported Boeing to further increase it to 47 aircrafts/month, and Boeing plans to reach 52 aircrafts/month in early 2027. However, this does not mean that regulation has fully returned to normal: the FAA continues to strengthen on-site supervision, and every time Boeing increases production speed, it is necessary to prove the stability of the production system and coordinate with regulators. Therefore, for Boeing's production capacity, “the hard ban has been lifted, but the expansion of production capacity is still in a phased, highly regulated and released model.”

Boeing 737 Deputy Chief Test Pilot Bill Kashnock said at the briefing that Boeing has developed an enhanced angle of attack system that will alert pilots when aircraft sensors fail and replace multiple alarms that may cause pilots to lose their sense of direction. He said the company plans to complete the modification of the existing fleet within two years.

Boeing executives said that certification of the 777X, the dual-engine successor to the 747 giant airliner, is also progressing at an accelerated pace. The aircraft uses an innovative folding wingtip design to suit the current airport infrastructure pattern. It was originally scheduled to be certified in 2020, but was greatly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the turmoil caused by the grounding of the 737 MAX. Approximately 50% of the required certification flight tests have now been completed, and the aircraft is expected to be put into operation in 2027.