Congress Smooths MAX 10, 7 Certifications

Congress has approved an amendment to a 2020 law that will allow the FAA to certify Boeing's 737 MAX 10 and 7 models without updating the crew alerting systems. Those systems will have to be updated eventually, but the exemption allows certification to continue in the face of a 2020 rule that gave manufacturers to the end of this year to bring the alerting systems of new aircraft up to modern standards. Without the amendment, the FAA would not have been able to certify the last two models and Boeing had warned that those programs might be scrapped.

The otherwise state-of-the-art MAX models, including the 8s and 9s certified four years ago, use a version of the alerting system that was included on the first 737 models in 1960s. Boeing has been fighting the requirement to update them, saying it would be better to leave the system as it is so that it is common to all variants of the aircraft. Pilot unions have mixed opinions on the topic.

The amendment didn't give Boeing a pass on updating the alert system. It requires Boeing to retrofit all MAX models with two specific safety enhancements that are being required by Canadian and European authorities. Within three years all MAXes will have to have a third angle of attack sensor installed and will also need a switch that pilots can use to shut off the persistent and distracting audible alarms that the current alerting system activates.