FAA Reviews 737 Max 10 Software Delay

Boeing's 737 Max 10, which was understood to be only days away from type certification, is facing a fresh regulatory hurdle after the Federal Aviation Administration opened a review of a flight management software issue that could increase pilot workload during a missed landing approach.

The software problem is not new. It was first identified nearly two years ago, and it centres on a specific landing scenario in which pilots may not have access to automated flight guidance from the aircraft's flight management system. In practice, that means a crew executing a go-around or missed approach in the affected configuration could be required to fly the aeroplane manually rather than following the vertical and lateral guidance that the autoflight system would ordinarily provide. The concern for regulators is workload: a missed approach at a busy terminal, in weather, at night, is one of the highest-workload phases of airline operations, and any gap in automated guidance demands more of the flight crew.

What the software issue involves

According to details circulating since the issue first surfaced, the fault involves the way the Max's flight management computer handles the transition to a missed approach under particular conditions. Instead of the autopilot and autothrottle sequencing automatically into the published missed-approach procedure with vertical navigation engaged, pilots in the affected scenario may find that automated vertical guidance is not available and must re-engage or reconfigure the system themselves.

Boeing has said its engineers are working on a permanent software update to resolve the behaviour, and that the company has already reinforced pilot procedures for re-engaging automated vertical navigation with operators of the Max family. The Max 7, the smallest member of the family, was certified in August 2026 with the software configuration in place — a point Boeing has noted as evidence that the issue is manageable within existing procedures. The FAA, however, has taken a different view of the Max 10 timetable.

The FAA's next step: a Corrective Action Review Board

The agency has indicated it will convene a Corrective Action Review Board, the internal mechanism by which the FAA formally assesses a identified design or production issue and determines what action — if any — is warranted. The board's establishment does not presuppose an airworthiness directive or a mandatory design change, but it does signal that the issue has moved from routine certification paperwork into the category of formal agency deliberation.

The FAA has said it will take immediate action if its review identifies a safety concern. That language matters in the context of the Max programme, which has been under intensified oversight since the two accidents that grounded the fleet in 2019 and prompted Congress to rewrite parts of the certification framework. For airline pilots holding a 737 type rating, and for the Part 121 carriers that operate the type, any change to flight guidance behaviour in the missed-approach phase would flow through training programmes and operations manuals, not just through a software release note.

A delay, not a derailment — so far

Boeing has not confirmed a revised certification date, and the FAA review leaves the Max 10's timeline uncertain. The variant is the largest of the Max family, stretched to compete directly with the Airbus A321neo in the 190–230-seat segment, and it carries more than 800 unfilled orders. Carriers including United Airlines have built fleet plans around delivery slots that have already slipped by years since the congressional certification deadline expired in 2022.

The stakes for Boeing are considerable. The Max 10 is the last of the four re-engined 737 variants to be certified, and its approval would close out a certification programme that has defined the company's decade. Progress on the programme has otherwise been steady: the FAA cleared production-rate increases on the 737 line earlier in 2026, and the agency has gradually returned certification authority to Boeing's organisation for specific work as part of the post-2019 reform agenda. Read our earlier coverage of the FAA returning airworthiness certification authority to Boeing and the certification timeline the Max 10 has travelled since 2022 for fuller background.

Why a go-around scenario matters

For readers outside the flight deck, the missed approach may seem like a narrow technicality. It is not. A go-around is a routine but demanding manoeuvre: the crew applies thrust, reconfigures the aeroplane from landing to climbing configuration, follows a published lateral and vertical path, and coordinates with air traffic control — all while the aircraft is low, slow, and heavy with fuel. Automation in this phase reduces the number of simultaneous tasks on the flight deck.

That is precisely why regulators treat flight management behaviour in the missed-approach phase as a certification issue rather than a software inconvenience. The FAA's scrutiny in this case echoes the broader lesson of the Max programme: how systems behave in the corners of the operating envelope — and how clearly crews understand that behaviour — sits at the centre of the type's airworthiness story. Crews are trained for manual flight, and airline training organisations drill missed approaches at every recurrent check, but the certification standard for a new type assumes the automation behaves as designed in every phase.

What happens next

The Corrective Action Review Board will determine whether the existing software configuration, backed by the reinforced re-engagement procedures Boeing has distributed to operators, is acceptable for the Max 10 as certificated, or whether a software update must be incorporated before certification proceeds. Boeing's position is that a permanent software fix is in engineering, and the company has signalled it does not expect the issue to derail the programme.

For now, the industry is left with a familiar posture: a Boeing variant that appeared to be days from a type certificate is again waiting on the FAA's calculus of risk, workload, and procedure. The Max 7's certification in August demonstrates the software configuration can pass muster with mitigations in place. Whether the Max 10 receives the same treatment — or waits for the permanent fix — is now the single open question in the programme. For airlines, lessors, and the MRO organisations preparing to support the fleet, the answer will shape delivery schedules through 2027 and beyond.