Boeing 737 MAX 10

Updated: October 2026 – A 737 MAX taxis to the runway, serrated engine nacelles, split winglet, everything as usual. But the fuselage just will not end, and at liftoff the main landing gear seems to grow longer for a moment. Then you are looking at the Boeing 737 MAX 10, the longest 737 of all time – and currently still one of the rarest types in the family. This page shows you why it has waited so long for certification, which airlines have ordered it and how to reliably tell it apart from the MAX 9 and A321neo.

What is the Boeing 737 MAX 10?

The 737 MAX 10 is the largest variant of the 737 MAX, the fourth generation of Boeing’s best-selling airliner. In the family it sits above the 737 MAX 9 and the widespread 737 MAX 8. Boeing quotes typically 185 to 210 seats in two classes and a maximum of 230 seats. The manufacturer states a range of up to around 5,740 kilometers – a little less than the MAX 9, because the longer fuselage brings more weight.

At its core, the story of the MAX 10 is the story of a duel. With the A321neo, Airbus had a bestseller in the upper narrowbody segment, and Boeing had little to counter it with in the MAX 9 and the older 737-900ER. The A321neo sold many times more often than the MAX 9. With the MAX 10, Boeing wanted to close this gap without a completely new aircraft family: more fuselage, more seats, but as much in common as possible with the other MAX variants.

The program was officially launched in June 2017 at the Paris Air Show, with orders and letters of intent from more than ten customers. On November 22, 2019, Boeing showed the first MAX 10 at its Renton plant near Seattle, the home of 737 final assembly. The first flight followed on June 18, 2021. Like every MAX, it is powered by two CFM International LEAP-1B engines; there is no alternative engine. You can find more about the manufacturer on the Boeing page.

The levered landing gear: engineering for a long tail

The 737 traditionally sits very low to the ground. In the 1960s that was an advantage, because baggage and stairs at small airports worked without much equipment. For a stretched version it is a problem: the longer the fuselage, the sooner the tail strikes the runway during rotation. A simply lengthened landing gear would no longer have fit into the existing wheel well – and that can hardly be changed without deep intervention in the structure.

Boeing’s solution is a levered landing gear (often called “levered” or “semi-levered gear”). The main gear leg has a telescoping strut and a lever that swings downward. During the takeoff roll, when the load comes off the wheels, the leg extends and raises the rear of the aircraft by around 24 centimeters. That lets the aircraft rotate farther without the tail striking the runway. On retraction, a mechanism shortens the leg again so that it fits into the familiar wheel well.

How to use landing gear as an identification feature in general is explained in the article Landing gear configurations as an identification feature.

The long road to certification

Hardly any current airliner type has waited so long for its certification. Entry into scheduled service was originally planned for 2020. That did not happen – and there are several reasons for it.

Who has ordered the MAX 10

Despite all the delays, the MAX 10 is not a niche product. According to overviews based on Boeing’s order data, around 1,400 MAX 10s were on the books in mid-2026 – a considerable share of all open MAX orders. Three customers shape the picture in particular.

United Airlines was long the most important buyer. In 2017, United converted 100 MAX 9s on order into MAX 10s, and in 2021 another 150 were added. After the door plug incident in January 2024, however, United said it was no longer planning firmly with the MAX 10 and shifted parts of the order to other types. How many MAX 10s United will actually take in the end is open.

Ryanair placed a firm order for 150 MAX 10s in May 2023, after a long public price dispute with Boeing, and secured options on 150 more. According to the plan at the time, the aircraft are due between 2027 and 2033 and are meant mainly to replace the older 737-800s. That makes Ryanair in all likelihood the operator that turns the MAX 10 into an everyday sight in Europe – including at airports in German-speaking countries.

Delta Air Lines entered the 737 MAX in July 2022 with an order for 100 MAX 10s and 30 options. For Delta it is the first MAX ever; until then the airline had only flown older 737 generations. The first deliveries have already been pushed back several times.

Other customers include WestJet from Canada and several leasing companies. United belongs to Star Alliance, Delta to SkyTeam – in scheduled service you would see their MAX 10s mainly on domestic and Americas routes, hardly in Europe.

Customer	Order (as announced)	Note
United Airlines	100 (conversion 2017) + 150 (2021)	Parts shifted to other types since 2024
Ryanair	150 firm + 150 options (May 2023)	Planned delivery 2027–2033
Delta Air Lines	100 firm + 30 options (2022)	First MAX ever at Delta
WestJet and others	various sizes	Dates depend on certification

MAX 10 vs. A321neo

The MAX 10 is Boeing’s direct counter to the A321neo. On paper the two are close together, but there are clear differences in the details.

Feature	Boeing 737 MAX 10	Airbus A321neo
ICAO type code	B3XM	A21N
Length	approx. 43.8 m	44.51 m
Wingspan	35.9 m	35.80 m
Max. seats (manufacturer figure)	230	244
Range (manufacturer figure)	up to approx. 5,740 km	up to approx. 7,400 km, as XLR up to 8,700 km
Engine	LEAP-1B	LEAP-1A or PW1100G

The A321neo offers more space and – especially in the LR and A321XLR versions – considerably more range. That also makes it interesting for transatlantic routes, which are out of range for the MAX 10. Boeing, on the other hand, banks on family advantages: airlines with large 737 fleets such as Ryanair or United can share pilots, spare parts and maintenance with the rest of the fleet. Boeing has also held out the prospect of lower costs per seat for the MAX 10 than for the A321neo.

For you as a spotter, the distinction is fortunately easy. The 737 has the more pointed nose, the distinctive dorsal fin in front of the vertical stabilizer and wheels visible in overflight, because the main landing gear has no outer doors. The A321neo has a rounder nose, closed wheel wells and Sharklets instead of the split MAX winglet. All the details are in the article Telling Airbus and Boeing apart and in the guide Recognizing winglets, Sharklets and Split Scimitars.

MAX 10, MAX 9 or 737-8200?

Within the 737 family, it gets trickier. Three variants have a door outline behind the wing.

Feature	737-8200	737 MAX 9	737 MAX 10
ICAO type code	B38M	B39M	B3XM
Length	approx. 39.5 m	approx. 42.1 m	approx. 43.8 m
Door outline behind the wing	yes	yes	yes
Rear fuselage behind this door	short	long	very long
Main landing gear	standard	standard	levered gear

The 737-8200 is a high-density MAX 8, flown mainly by Ryanair. It does have extra exits, but the short MAX 8 fuselage. When a Ryanair MAX with an extra door and a very long rear fuselage goes by after deliveries begin, it is therefore worth a second look: it could be a MAX 10. Compared with the MAX 9, only a good 1.6 meters are missing – you can see that in the side profile from more window rows between wing and tail, but more reliably at takeoff from the landing gear.

For an overview of all 737 generations from the original 737 to the MAX, see the article Telling the Boeing 737 Original, Classic, NG and MAX apart.

Where you can find the MAX 10 right now

As long as certification is pending and no deliveries are under way, the MAX 10 is mainly a type for the greater Seattle area. Test flights take off and land around Renton and Boeing Field, and many aircraft wear manufacturer colors or are already painted in customer colors. At Boeing Field, the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field spot is a good choice. If you are in the area anyway, combine the search with a visit to the Museum of Flight right at Boeing Field. How to classify test and house colors is covered in the article House liveries of Airbus, Boeing and Embraer.

In Europe, a MAX 10 is currently a real rarity – at best at demonstrations or on ferry flights. That should change as soon as Ryanair takes over its aircraft. Then Ryanair bases such as Dublin Airport with the spot The Mound will be especially worthwhile. In German-speaking countries, large airports such as Frankfurt with the Zeppelinheim viewing platform or Munich with the visitors’ hill are good places for unplanned surprises.

Location	Chance of a hit (as of October 2026)	Why
Renton and Boeing Field (Seattle)	medium	Test and ferry flights around the Boeing plants
Ryanair bases in Europe	currently very low, high later	Largest European customer, deliveries depend on certification
Major hubs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland	very low	At most special or ferry flights

How to follow individual aircraft live and filter by type codes is shown in the guide to Flight tracking with ADS-B. What is behind codes like B3XM is explained in ICAO type codes explained. Strategies for types that only rarely show up can be found under Spotting rare aircraft.

How to estimate the runway direction in use in advance is covered in the article Understanding the runway direction in use at an airport. Whether your vantage point is legally unproblematic is answered by Is plane spotting allowed?.

Photo tips specifically for the MAX 10

The MAX 10 is a long, slim subject with a detail no other narrowbody jet has. That is what you should show in the picture.

When the light suits your spot, you can calculate in advance; how that works is explained in Planning the sun position for your photo spot. Which equipment makes sense is covered in the plane spotting gear checklist. You can read the registration correctly with the article Understanding aircraft registrations.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The 737 MAX 10 is Boeing’s attempt to grow the proven 737 one more size and take market share from the A321neo. Technically, the real innovation is under the fuselage: a main landing gear that extends on takeoff. Economically, everything hinges on certification, which has dragged on for years. For spotters, that is exactly the appeal: today the MAX 10 is an exotic from Seattle, but with the first deliveries to Ryanair, Delta and United it could become an everyday aircraft.