Report: US FAA to announce Boeing Company (BA.US) 737 MAX 10 certification on Tuesday, affecting expansion of airlines including Delta and FedEx

People familiar with the matter said that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is expected to announce on Tuesday during a visit to Washington state that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved Boeing Company's 737 MAX 10 model. Duffy will appear on Tuesday at Boeing Company's factory in Everett, Washington, to promote the FAA's certification of the long-delayed larger variant of Boeing Company's best-selling aircraft. Boeing Company opened a new production line at the Everett factory in July this year to expand 737 MAX capacity, and the model is also assembled at the Renton factory. Boeing Company referred the related questions to the FAA, and the FAA did not immediately comment. The FAA held a type certification board review meeting last Friday. The board, composed of FAA management members, is the final step before the FAA makes a certification decision. Airlines have ordered nearly 1,500 MAX 10s, and the model accounts for about 30% of Boeing Company's unfilled 737 orders. Boeing Company has built a small number of MAX 10s and is waiting to deliver them. The larger model, which can carry more passengers, is crucial to the growth plans of several airlines. Major MAX 10 customers include United Airlines (UAL.US), Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK.US), Ryanair (RYAAY.US), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL.US) and American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL.US). Since the two fatal MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019, Boeing Company has faced a stricter certification process; after an Alaska Air Group, Inc. nearly new MAX 9 suffered an in-flight door panel blowout in January 2024, the company's production and quality systems also came under scrutiny. Duffy met last week in Georgia with the chief executives of major aerospace companies including Boeing Company, RTX, Honeywell International Inc., GE Aerospace, Textron Inc. and Gulfstream to discuss how to improve the certification process. The FAA finally approved the smaller 737 MAX 7 model in August this year after more than eight years of review. Before the delays, Boeing Company had originally planned to begin deliveries of the MAX 10 in 2020. The 737 MAX engine anti-ice system problem that emerged in 2023 further delayed certification of the MAX 7 and MAX 10. Boeing Company disclosed at the end of September that the latest update to the 737 MAX navigation software had malfunctioned, which at one point threatened to further delay certification. But the FAA determined that the issue did not pose a safety concern and did not require Boeing Company to fix it as a condition of certification. Boeing Company is still advancing certification of its largest passenger aircraft in production, the 777-9, which is six years behind schedule. The company said it expects to complete certification and begin deliveries in 2027.