Certification of Boeing Co.’s long-delayed 737 Max 10 variant will be held up by the Federal Aviation Administration over a new software issue, just as the U.S. planemaker was in the final stages of winning approval to begin deliveries to airlines. The FAA is holding off on certification of the largest member of Boeing’s best-selling narrowbody family until it has determined whether or not a recently flagged software concern constitutes a safety of flight issue, Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters on Monday at an event near Washington. Boeing shares fell to an intraday low following the administrator’s comments, dropping as much as 6.8% as of 2:26 p.m. in New York.
Boeing said it continues to follow the lead of the FAA as it works through the certification process to meet all requirements. The Max 10 was expected to be certified in coming weeks. The long-awaited regulatory milestone is central to helping Boeing generate cash and improve its balance sheet after several tumultuous years.
It is also key to the planemaker’s quest to challenge Airbus’ grip on the lucrative single-aisle jet market. Orders for the 737 Max 10 exceed 1,500 aircraft, making it one of the more popular Max variants. Bedford said the agency certified the smaller 737 Max 7 with the latest version of the software, which fixed a known issue on the vertical navigation system but unexpectedly introduced a new, but smaller, bug.
They train for these scenarios,” he told reporters.
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