The Legacy and Strength of the Boeing 737 Family

Reliability, safety and simplicity of design have been the hallmarks of the 737 for the past 60 years. The 737 family has continued to incorporate key learnings and advances with each new model

737 MAX Design Development

To develop the 737 MAX, Boeing brought together the 737 Airline Working Groups, comprised of pilots, engineering, maintenance and operations leaders from key airlines around the world.  In multiple sessions, Boeing, the airlines and local regulators worked to identify desired improvements to the 737 family.

The 737 MAX was designed and delivered on a disciplined six-year schedule. By way of comparison, Boeing took five years to design and deliver the all-new 777 in the early 1990s. The 737 MAX family includes the 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8, High-Capacity 737 MAX 8, 737 MAX 9 and 737 MAX 10.

The 737 MAX family includes design updates, such as the Boeing Advanced Technology winglet, that reduce fuel use and CO2 emissions by at least 14 percent compared to Next-Generation 737s. Other design changes are LED landing, taxi and runway lights and a redesigned electronics bay.

The 737 MAX improved on Next-Generation 737 range with the capability to fly more than 3,500 nautical miles (6,510 km), an increase of 340-570 nmi (629-1,055 km). The 737 MAX also incorporates the latest quiet engine technology to reduce the operational noise footprint of the airplane by up to 40 percent.

Continuous improvement, safety and reliability

The 737 family has long been a pioneer in implementing safety and reliability improvements.

By diligently working with airlines and regulators, Boeing has developed and implemented thousands of safety and efficiency improvements on the 737 family. As a result, its safety record has improved with each generation of models.

The 737 is also extremely reliable. As of February 2019, the three-month average for schedule reliability for all variants of the Next-Generation 737 family was 99.7 percent, meaning 99.7 percent of all Next-Generation flights are ready to depart within 15 minutes of schedule. Schedule reliability for the 737 MAX family was 99.5 percent as of February 2019.

Boeing designed the 737 MAX with pilots in mind by including customer pilots as part of the design team.

The displays technology and instrumentation on the 737 MAX is state of the art. Based on experience from the 787 and previous programs, the MAX primary flight displays include the enhanced sky-ground horizon line, providing the flight crew with additional situation awareness, a key factor in aviation safety.

The 737 MAX displays are the latest in this evolution, incorporating all the key features from the predecessor programs.