Inside Boeing’s Smallest New Airliner, the 737 MAX 7
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.
Boeing’s latest narrow-body jet is now flying with a handful of airlines, from Norwegian to FlyDubai, but the 737 MAX made its public debut just two years ago, at the 2016 Farnborough Air Show.
Since then, the mid-range MAX 8 has carried countless passengers around the world, as Boeing has continued to roll out other variants — from the longer 737 MAX 9, which debuted at the Paris Air Show and is now flying with United Airlines within the US, to the smaller MAX 7, which popped up for the first time at Farnborough just last week.
Given that you’re by now probably well acquainted with the larger MAX variants — the MAX 8 and MAX 9 — I’m going to keep things short with the “little guy” today:
While it offers nearly 400 miles more range, the MAX 7 is considerably smaller than the workhorse MAX 8, which can accommodate nearly 40 more passengers in a high-density configuration. In fact, the smallest MAX fits roughly the same number of passengers as the new Airbus A220-300 — a far more popular aircraft.
| 737 MAX 7 | 737 MAX 8 | 737 MAX 9 | 737 MAX 10 | |
| Max Seats | 172 | 210 | 220 | 230 |
| Length | 116 ft., 8 in. | 129 ft., 8 in. | 138 ft., 4 in. | 143 ft., 8 in. |
| Range (miles) | 4,430 | 4,080 | 4,080 | 3,800 |
There’s no question that the MAX 7 is a beaut, but sadly the plane’s good looks haven’t helped boost its popularity. Southwest is currently the 7’s largest customer, with orders for 30 planes, but there’s always a chance the airline could choose to add more MAX 8s to the fleet, instead.
Hopefully, if airlines do eventually take delivery of the smallest MAX, they also decide to abandon those awful lavatories flying with the larger planes today.
Sadly the small lav and sink is present on Boeing’s test plane, as I saw at the Farnborough Air Show. But for better or worse, it appears that pilots and engineers don’t have to deal with those horrendous sinks — the rear lav sink was inoperable during my tour, having been replaced with a bottle of hand sanitizer, instead.
For more from the Farnborough Air Show, see:
Sign-up Successful!
Welcome to The Points Guy!
WELCOME OFFER: 80,000 Points
TPG'S BONUS VALUATION*: $1,600
CARD HIGHLIGHTS: 2X points on all travel and dining, points transferrable to over a dozen travel partners
*Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. View our latest valuations here.
- Earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide, eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 80,000 points are worth $1,000 toward travel.
- Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash's subscription service. Activate by 12/31/21.
- Earn 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2022. That’s 3X points in addition to the 2X points you already earn on travel.
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.