Boeing BBJ Upbeat On 2023 Prospects Despite MAX 7 Cert Delays

GENEVA—Boeing Business Jets is “off to a strong start” for the year with orders and commitments for four aircraft and one delivery so far in 2023, said Joe Benson, the newly installed president of BBJ.

The new order batch includes a BBJ MAX 7, based on the still-to-be-certified 737-7 variant of the Boeing MAX family—as well as two BBJ 787-8s and the first commitment for a BBJ version of the 777-9, initial commercial versions of which are due to enter service in 2025. The BBJ 777-9 is the company’s new head-of-state aircraft, replacing the 747-8 which is now out of production.

Boeing originally hoped to clinch 737-7 certification by the end of 2022, but under its recently updated timeline now hopes to win FAA approval in late summer. The company’s main issue on the 737-7 concerns obtaining FAA sign-off on system safety assessments containing pilot human factors assumptions.

“We do expect certification this year,” Benson said May 22, adding “there is a great amount of interest [in the BBJ MAX 7]. Some customers have decided to maybe wait a little bit and make sure it gets certified. Others are going ahead and proceeding with the ordering process, and looking to get those on the books.”

Although the 737-7 BBJ version will the longest-range variant of the family, offering around 150 nm more range than the larger 737-8 derivative, Boeing says the model is attracting wider interest from international government customers because it will have a smaller footprint and more subtle ramp presence.

Boeing declines to specify the number of MAX-based BBJs in the orderbook. However, Aviation Week’s Fleet Discovery database indicates that prior to the company’s May 22 update a total of eight were on the books; of which two are 737-7s, five are 737-8s and one 737-9.  Around 142 737-based BBJs are now in service, of which five are BBJ MAX versions. The bulk of the remaining in-service fleet is made up of 737-700 BBJ1s and -800 BBJ2s, along with seven 737-900 BBJ3s.