FAA Grants Certification to Boeing 737 MAX 10, Opening Deliveries for Airlines

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday certified the BA 737 MAX 10, the largest and final variant of Boeing's best-selling narrow-body family, clearing the way for deliveries after years of delays. The approval came weeks after federal officials reviewed a navigation system glitch on the aircraft and deemed it was not a safety-of-flight issue. "Completing the certification program clears the path for us to deliver a Boeing airplane that will set a new standard in commercial aviation," said Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing's commercial airplane unit.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy used the moment to push for a faster process. "It takes Boeing, to certify an aircraft in Europe, about half the time, less than half the time that it does in the U.S.," he told CNBC, adding that the U.S. has to certify aircraft more quickly to compete as China pushes into aviation. The MAX 10 follows the MAX 7, the family's smallest model, which the FAA approved in early August.

For airlines the clearance ends a long wait. Alaska Airlines called the MAX 10 "an important part of Alaska's long-term fleet strategy and our future" and has said it plans lie-flat seats on some of the jets. American Airlines, which is awaiting more than 100 of the aircraft, gets a key boost. The delay had real costs: United CEO Scott Kirby said in August the airline had waited so long that the lie-flat seats it bought for the plane no longer made sense and were sitting in a warehouse.

For Boeing, certification matters to cash flow because airlines pay the bulk of an aircraft's price on delivery, and the company has been ramping 737 MAX output, opening a fourth production line in Everett, Washington, in July. What to watch: the date of the first MAX 10 handover, the pace of the 737 production ramp, and whether Duffy's call for faster certification turns into changes at the FAA.