Boeing: 737 MAX 10 would be most profitable single-aisle airplane ever made

(Boeing)

The Boeing Co. on Monday offered up details on what it says would give customers the most profitable single-aisle aircraft in aviation history — the proposed 737 MAX 10X.

Boeing’s Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for its commercial airplanes unit, confirmed on his blog that the company is in discussions about the aircraft with multiple customers and has even extended some business offers on the aircraft to some carriers.

He also offered up new metrics that Boeing undoubtedly hopes will help it close the market-share gap enjoyed by the Airbus A321neo at the large end of the narrow-body market.

Tinseth says the MAX 10X variant would have a 5 percent lower per seat cost and a 5 percent lower per trip cost than the A321neo, which, while still having the same capacity, would give it the “most profitable” distinction for its customers.

The fifth member of the MAX family, the 10X would come to the market around 2020, Tinseth wrote, after the entry of the MAX 200 and MAX 7.

The MAX 8 is expected to enter service around the middle of this year, while the soon-to-be unveiled MAX 9 will enter service in 2018.

“The 10X would extend and strengthen the overall MAX family — a family that we’ve designed to offer exceptional performance, flexibility, efficiency and commonality,” Tinseth continued. “We look forward to our continued discussions with customers.”

The aircraft would mean additional work for Spirit AeroSystems Inc. in Wichita, where about 70 percent of every 737 that Boeing delivers — including the MAX variants — is built by the company and its local supply base.

(Daniel McCoy - Wichita Business Journal)