Boeing rolled its longest 737 out of the Renton factory in November 2019. Nearly seven years later, the jet still lacks the one thing it needs to carry a paying passenger: an FAA type certificate. That wait may now be measured in days. On Friday, 16 October 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration's Type Certification Board met to review the 737 MAX 10, and Reuters reports the agency is set to approve the jet as soon as next week.

The report, by David Shepardson and Dan Catchpole, cites three people familiar with the matter. The board, made up of members of the FAA's management team, is the last major step before the agency decides on certification. A final FAA management meeting still has to happen, so nothing is signed yet. As of Sunday, 18 October, neither the FAA nor Boeing had announced an approval.

If it goes through, it closes one of the longest certification sagas in modern airliner history, and hands Boeing the aircraft it needs to fight the Airbus A321neo.

976 flights to get here

The flying is long finished. Boeing completed the 737-10's final planned certification flight in July, closing a test campaign of 976 flights, more than 2,060 flight hours and roughly 1,040 hours of ground testing. The programme covered the new main landing gear, brakes on wet runways and in maximum-energy stops, Boeing's fix for the 737 MAX engine anti-ice problem, and an enhanced angle-of-attack system.

Fittingly for an airliner, the very last test flight was not a dramatic stall or crosswind trial. It was an interiors check of lavatory smoke detectors and cabin speaker audibility. Since then, Boeing has been grinding through the documentation the FAA must sign off before it issues a certificate.

Boeing's own video marking the end of the 737-10 certification flight-test campaign in July 2026.

Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg made the same point at a Morgan Stanley investor conference in September, when he described the programme as being in its final, paperwork-heavy stretch.

A software scare that wasn't a show-stopper

The last real wobble came in late September. Boeing disclosed a software issue that could cause the automated vertical navigation to drop out during certain missed approaches, a problem affecting some aircraft across the 737 MAX family running a particular software version. For a few days it looked like another delay for the MAX 10.

On 2 October, the FAA concluded the glitch was not a safety concern, because pilots retain full control of the aircraft, and it did not make a fix a condition of certification. Boeing is still working on a permanent software update. That decision cleared the way for Friday's board meeting.

Why the MAX 10 matters so much to Boeing

The 737 MAX 10 is the largest member of the family, a stretch of the MAX 9 aimed squarely at the Airbus A321neo. Airlines have ordered nearly 1,500 of them, about 30% of Boeing's outstanding 737 backlog, according to Reuters. United Airlines, Alaska, Ryanair, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are among the biggest customers, and Lufthansa Group signed for 20 in September. Boeing has already built a handful that are awaiting delivery.

Every year without a certificate has been a gift to Airbus. Reuters notes the delays helped the A321neo win a larger share of the large single-aisle market. The road was long: two fatal 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 brought a far stricter certification regime, a 2023 engine anti-ice problem added more delay, and the January 2024 cabin panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 put Boeing under intense scrutiny.

The smaller MAX 7 finally received its FAA approval in August, after a review that lasted more than eight years. The MAX 10 now looks set to follow within a few months of its sibling.

Certified next week, flying passengers in 2027

Even with a certificate in hand, passengers will not board a MAX 10 this year. Boeing still targets first customer deliveries in 2027, and airlines will need time to bring the type into service. Alaska, United, Ryanair and Delta have all pointed to 2027 for their first aircraft.

The FAA has said only that safety drives the certification timeline, and the final management meeting could still raise questions. But after 976 test flights, eight years of scrutiny on the MAX family and one software scare that turned out not to matter, the biggest 737 ever built is one signature away from the finish line.

Sources: Reuters, AVweb, Boeing, Airways Magazine, Aviation Week, CNBC