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Contents

Illustrated technical information covering Vol 2 Over 800 multi-choice systems questions Close up photos of internal and external components Illustrated history and description of all variants of 737 Databases and reports of all the major 737 accidents & incidents History and Development of the Boeing 737 - MAX General flightdeck views of each generation of 737's Technical presentations of 737 systems by Chris Brady Detailed tech specs of every series of 737 A collection of my favourite photographs that I have taken of or from the 737 Press reports of orders and deliveries Details about 737 production methods A compilation of links to other sites with useful 737 content Study notes and technical information A compilation of links to major 737 news stories with a downloadable archive A quick concise overview of the pages on this site

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MAX-7

It was announced in Apr 2016 that the 737 MAX-7 would be stretched by two seat rows some two years before the first one was built. This was because sales of the 737 MAX-7 were very slow, winning just 60 orders. Boeing were considering cancelling the series. Instead, they redesigned it in a similar vein to the way the 737-900ER was redesigned to boost the failing 737-900. The only difference being that this was done before product launch.

The underlying problem with short versions of airliners is that they have proportionally more weight per seat than longer versions, ie more fuel burn with less potential for yield. If you look back at all generations of the 737 the shortest models have been the least successful:

  • 737-100. 30 sold out of 1144 originals; 2.6%
  • 737-500. 389 sold out of 1988 classics; 19.6%
  • 737-600. 69 sold out of approx 7100 NGs; 1.0%
  • 737-MAX7. 63 sold out of approx. 3600 MAXs; 1.7%

So Boeing has positioned this as the long range MAX, less fuselage length and pax means less weight and with the -8 strength it can still lift a lot of weight, ie fuel.

The 737 MAX-7 seating capacity is now 153 in two class configs or 172 pax in high density config, with a 76in (1.93m) fuselage stretch. The range is 3825nm by using stronger MAX-8 wings and landing gear, making it the longest range MAX.

Boeing says the MAX-7 carries 12 more passengers 400 nautical miles further and with “7% lower operating costs per seat than the A319NEO.

Boeing expects the 737 MAX 7 to be certified by the end of 2023 and the larger MAX 10 in 2024. These timescales have slipped by years as the FAA has been more rigourous on certification with Boeing since the MAX MCAS accidents.

See this article on MAX-7 price wars.
See more details about the book

All of the information, photographs & schematics from this website and much more is now available in a 374 page printed book or in electronic format.

*** Updated 05 Aug 2023 ***

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The first flight of the MAX 7 was on 16 March 2018 with N7201S (42561). It was flown by Boeing Test and Evaluation captains Jim Webb and Keith Otsuka from Renton to Boeing Field and lasted 3 hours and 5 mins.

Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager 737 MAX programme, commented: “Everything we saw during today’s flight shows that the MAX 7 is performing exactly as designed. I know our airline customers are going to enjoy the capabilities this aeroplane will bring to their fleets.”

Summary of changes

  1. Fuselage lengthened by 76in (1.93m) to accommodate two seat rows (12 seats). Achieved by a 1.17m (46in) fuselage plug forward of the wing and a 0.76m fuselage plug aft of the wing.
  2. Two overwing exits on each side of the fuselage like the MAX-8 and MAX-9 to increase maximum certified passenger capacity.
  3. Higher gauge aluminium wing (like on -8 and -9) to allow for increased fuel capacity
  4. The maximum take-off weight increased from 70,300kg (155,000lb) to 80,300kg
  5. Strengthened landing gear of the 737-8 to take the higher weights

737 MAX-7
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