A Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft photographed during the opening ceremony for the company’s new North Line assembly line producing 737 MAX aircraft at the Boeing Everett Plant in Everett, Washington on July 10, 2026.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images
In August 2018, the then president and current CEO united airlines Scott Kirby spoke in the press room at an aviation conference in Denver about the company’s big plans for its new airline. boeing 737 Max 10: Lay-flat premium seats and many lucrative transcontinental routes.
The plane was scheduled to begin flying in 2020.
Hundreds of these sheets remain in storage as certification, which was expected more than six years ago, is far behind schedule. Now, United Airlines must decide what to do with all those seats, as Boeing and many of its customers expect the company to soon win federal approval for the plane, the largest of the best-selling 737 Max family.
“There are so many flat seats, I don’t know what to do with them,” Kirby told CNBC in an interview at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey earlier this month. “Does not fit other airplanes.”
United Airlines has not disclosed the layout it will use on its planes or where it will fly. The company had initial plans for the Boeing 737 Max 10 before offering a premium economy section.
The delays for both the newly approved smallest model, the Boeing 737 Max 7, and the yet-to-be-approved Max 10, occurred after manufacturers were forced to redesign their anti-icing systems. Boeing was also dealing with increased scrutiny following years of safety and manufacturing crises.
Boeing won approval for the 737 Max 7 earlier this month in partnership with a major customer. southwest airlines It is scheduled to fly in the first half of 2027.
United Airlines is pivoting after Boeing’s delays and recently equipped its Airbus A321neo narrowbody sub-fleet with 20 newly designed Polaris suites, a premium economy option and other new seats as part of an industry race to add higher-yield seats to its fleet. This sub-fleet is called the “Coastliner” for transcontinental routes.
However, the dimensions and requirements for both planes are not the same, so United Airlines will decide what the interior will look like.
The company plans to deliver the first Boeing Max 10 in summer 2027. According to its latest quarterly report, the company has 167 aircraft on order.
