Key events in the troubled history of the Boeing 737 Max
Boeing’s 737 Max is a more fuel-efficient version of the American airliner’s popular 737, the best-selling passenger plane ever. Airlines have flown Maximum fighter jets only seven years, but in that short time two have crashed, killing 346 people, and the plane has become a symbol of Boeing’s safety concerns.
Regulators around the world grounded all Max jets in March 2019 after the second crash, leading to the resignation of Boeing’s CEO. His successor announced plans to step down after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded a particular model of the Max in January when a panel covered an unused emergency exit blown away an Alaska Airlines Max in flight.
The explosion led to government investigations, including a criminal investigation by the Ministry of Justice.
Below you will find a timeline of the most important events in Max’s history:
August 2011: Boeing announces the Max, a 737 with larger engines, rather than designing a new plane to compete with rival Airbus’s A320neo.
August 2015: The first 737 Max aircraft rolls off the production line.
January 2016: The 737 Max makes its first test flight.
March 2017: The Federal Aviation Administration certifies the 737 Max 8. Eleven months later, it approves a larger version, the 737 Max 9.
May 2017: Malindo Air, a Malaysian subsidiary of Indonesian budget airline Lion Air, becomes the first aircraft to receive a 737 Max.
May 2017: The Max makes its first commercial flight from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to Singapore on May 22.
September 2018: By the end of this month, Boeing has received orders for nearly 5,000 Max jets.
October 29, 2018: Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashes into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
November 2018: Attention turns to a new Boeing flight control system called MCAS that Boeing has not disclosed to pilots and airlines. Indonesian investigators say the pilots of Flight 610 struggled to maintain control as the automated system pushed the plane’s nose down more than two dozen times.
March 10, 2019: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashes after takeoff in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 157 passengers and crew.
March 2019: Within days of the second crash, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and regulators in countries around the world order all 737 Max jets to be grounded.
April 2019: A preliminary report from Ethiopian officials draws similarities to the crash in Indonesia. The report says that pilots of Flight 302 attempted to follow Boeing’s instructions for an MCAS malfunction but were unable to manually level the nose due to the plane’s high speed.
May 2019: Boeing issues a safety alert to warn pilots about poor readings from a key sensor on the Max did not workbut the company did not notify airlines or the FAA of the problem until after the first Max crash.
December 23, 2019: Boeing fires CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who was seen as the one who pressured the FAA to lift the grounded Max planes.
January 13, 2020: Boeing Chairman David Calhoun takes over as CEO, saying he sees “opportunity to be better, much better.”
November 18, 2020: FAA announces that Boeing has approved a flight control software update and other changes, allowing airlines to resume flying 737 Max jets.
December 29, 2020: Commercial flights of the 737 Max resume in the US
January 7, 2021: The U.S. Justice Department accuses Boeing of fraud, but will not prosecute the company for misleading regulators about the 737 Max if it pays a fine $2.5 Billion Settlement and strengthens protection against fraud law violations for three years.
March 23, 2022: A Texas jury finds Boeing’s chief technical pilot for the 737 Max not guilty on four counts of internet fraud, alleging he misled regulators about MCAS.
September 22, 2022: Boeing agrees to pay $200 million and former CEO Muilenburg agrees to pay $1 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the company misled investors by saying a month after the Lion Air crash that the 737 Max was “as safe as any airplane that has ever flown the sky,” even though the company had determined that MCAS posed a safety risk that needed to be fixed.
Oct. 22, 2022: A federal judge in Texas rules that the Justice Department violated the rights of families of crash victims in Indonesia and Ethiopia by failing to consult them before approving the deal with Boeing. The families are seeking to have the settlement thrown out.
February 9, 2023: Judge Reed O’Connor rules that despite “Boeing’s egregious criminal conduct,” federal law does not allow him to overturn the settlement.
Dec. 28, 2023: The FAA says it is overseeing inspections of 737 Max jets after Boeing asked airlines to look for a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system.
Jan. 5, 2024: A panel covering an unused emergency exit blows away a 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight. Pilots land the plane safely.
Jan. 6, 2024: The FAA grounds all 737 Max 9s in the U.S. Less than three weeks later, the agency allows airlines to resume flights once they complete mandatory inspections of their fleets’ door handles.
February 6, 2024: National Transportation Safety Board investigators report that four bolts securing the Max 9’s door caps are missing from the Alaskan jet following repairs at a Boeing factory.
February 26, 2024: A panel of outside experts convened after the two deadly crashes says Boeing’s safety culture is lacking despite the company’s efforts to improve it.
Feb. 28, 2024: FAA gives Boeing 90 days to write a plan to improve production quality and safety. Boeing delivers the report by the end of May.
March 4, 2024: FAA says an audit of 737 Max production at Boeing and key supplier Spirit AeroSystems revealed “multiple instances” of non-compliance with quality standards.
March 19, 2024: FBI informs passengers on Alaska Airlines flight that they may be victims of a crime.
March 25, 2024: Calhoun says he will step down as CEO at the end of the year. Two other executives leave in a management shakeup.
May 14, 2024: The Justice Department tells Judge O’Connor that Boeing violated the terms of its 2021 settlement regarding the 737 Max crashes.
June 13, 2024: FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker says his agency’s oversight of Boeing was “too hands-off” before the door explosion, adding that the FAA is now “more active.”
June 18, 2024: Calhoun appears for questioning at a Senate hearing. Some senators tell him they believe Boeing should be prosecuted.
July 7, 2024: The Justice Department says Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government for misleading regulators who approved pilot training standards for the Max. A written plea agreement is expected to be filed with the court by July 19.