B737 Max 7 fløy fredag - AVweb

Boeing 737 Max 7 Completes First Flight

by Alexa Rexroth

 - March 16, 2018, 8:17 PM

The first Boeing 737 Max 7 takes off from Renton Municipal Airport for a three-hour maiden mission that ended with an uneventful landing at Seattle's Boeing Field. (Photo: Boeing)

 

Boeing’s 737 Max 7 flew for the first time Friday, departing out of Renton Municipal Airport in Washington state for a three-hour and five-minute mission that saw the smallest of the new family of narrowobodies reach an altitude of 25,000 feet and a speed of 250 knots.

“We got the benefit of flying a really beautiful airplane today,” said Boeing test pilot Jim Webb. “This is the perfect start to the test program for this aircraft. We did a low approach at Moses Lake, tested some of the safety systems and verifications, and we really completed the profile exactly as it was written.”

Asked to gauge the prospects for the airplane, Webb expressed high expectations. “I think it’s going to be a great addition to the Max family,” he said. “It is small but mighty and the performance will make a lot of customers really happy.

Southwest Airlines, WestJet, China’s Ruili Airlines, Jet Lines of Canada and Air Lease Corporation account for the Max 7’s identified customers. It has also drawn orders from two business jet customers and one undisclosed operator. Boeing would not reveal order totals, however. “We do not discuss order numbers because we want to leave it up to our customers to pick the right model mix,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes regional director of product marketing Jeff Haber. “We do not make that information public.”

Boeing plans further testing of the aircraft next week. Keith Otsuka, Boeing test and evaluation captain, also noted that the aircraft would begin testing for high and hot conditions in China.