Boeing 737 MAX CFM

The first flight took place on January 29, 2016, at Renton Municipal Airport,[49] nearly 49 years after the maiden flight of the original 737-100, on April 9, 1967.[1] The first MAX 8, 1A001, was used for aerodynamic trials: flutter testing, stability and control, and takeoff performance-data verification, before it was modified for an operator and delivered. 1A002 was used for performance and engine testing: climb and landing performance, crosswind, noise, cold weather, high altitude, fuel burn and water-ingestion. Aircraft systems including autoland were tested with 1A003. 1A004, with an airliner layout, flew function-and-reliability certification for 300h with a light flight-test instrumentation.[50]

The 737 MAX gained Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification on March 8, 2017.[11] It was approved by the EASA on March 27, 2017.[51] After completing 2,000 test flight hours and 180-minute ETOPS testing requiring 3,000 simulated flight cycles in April 2017, CFM International notified Boeing of a possible manufacturing quality issue with low pressure turbine (LPT) discs in LEAP-1B engines.[52] Boeing suspended 737 MAX flights on May 4,[12] and resumed flights on May 12.[53]

During the certification process, the FAA delegated many evaluations to Boeing, allowing the manufacturer to review their own product.[49][54] It was widely reported that Boeing pushed to expedite approval of the 737 MAX to compete with the Airbus A320neo, which hit the market nine months ahead of Boeing’s model.[55]