Top aircraft company Boeing just unveiled a new member of its family earlier this week: the 737 MAX 9 aircraft. The 737 MAX aircrafts of Boeing are some of the fastest-selling aircrafts in the Boeing history, with over 3,600 models ordered by 83 customers around the world.
The 737 MAX 9 boasts a capacity of over 220 passengers, and 3,515 nautical miles worth of flight range. It's the second member of the 737 MAX family, with the 737 MAX 8 the first model to hit the market.
In a statement, Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager of the 737 MAX program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said: "The 737 MAX team continues to do a fantastic job getting us to these important milestones right on schedule. Our primary focus is delivering an aircraft that has the legendary reliability our 737 customers depend on, plus the optimized flexibility and range capability they desire."
Although the MAX models are what drives the Boeing company so far, only a handful of orders were accounted for the latest model of the 737 MAX aircrafts. Of the 3,600 orders for MAX, only 220 models are wanted for the 737 MAX 9.
Instead, customers and analysts are gearing towards 737 MAX 9's competitor, the Airbus A321neo. This new model of Airbus has more seating capacity than the MAX9, and it's able to fly on farther routes. Because of it, sales are higher for the Airbus A321neo, with a ratio of 3:1.
But Boeing isn't fazed. It's still set out to complete the final verification checks needed for the 737 MAX 9 before it hits the market. This includes several flight tests over the next coming weeks, as well as several other engine runs, fuel checks and system compatibility tests.
Next year 2018 would be the marked date of the public release of the 737 MAX 9. Meanwhile, the first member of the MAX family, the 737 MAX 8, is set to be released in the second quarter of 2017.
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