The airplane completed a successful 2 hour, 42-minute flight, taking off from Renton Field in Renton, Wash., at 10:52 a.m.local time and landing at 1:34 p.m.at Seattle’s Boeing Field. Piloted by Boeing Test & Evaluation Capts. Christine Walsh and Ed Wilson, the airplane performed tests on flight controls, systems and handling qualities. The MAX 9 will now undergo comprehensive flight testing before customer deliveries begin in 2018.

The 737 MAX 9 is the second member of Boeing’s 737 MAX family, with a maximum capacity of 220 passengers and a range of 3,515 nautical miles.

“The 737 MAX team continues to fire on all cylinders,” said Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager, 737 MAX program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “Each new milestone we meet builds knowledge and experience that gets leveraged to keep the program moving forward on track.”

The 737 MAX family has been designed to offer customers exceptional performance, flexibility and efficiency, with lower per-seat costs and an extended range that will open up new destinations in the single-aisle market. The MAX 8 and 9 will be followed in 2019 by the smaller MAX 7 and higher capacity MAX 200, while studies and customer discussions continue on further growing the family.

The 737 MAX incorporates the latest technology CFM International LEAP-1B engines, Advanced Technology winglets and other improvements to deliver the highest efficiency, reliability and passenger comfort in the single-aisle market. The 737 MAX is the fastest-selling airplane in Boeing history, accumulating more than 3,700 orders to date from 86 customers worldwide.

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Kirkland, Washington based Zunum Aero recently came out of stealth mode and announced its plans to build a fleet of hybrid electric planes. The objective is to improve short trips that are more complicated than they need to be while also cutting down on the costs. Eyeing the regional routes, they predict that carriers will be able to offer fares 40 to 80 % below current prices.

The company has received backing from two major names in airline industry, Boeing and JetBlue Technology Ventures (subsidiary of JetBlue Airways), to build different hybrid-electric propulsion jets. Initially they are looking to build smaller aircrafts with 10 passenger capacity and range of up to 700 miles (1120 kms) by the early 2020s. This will be followed by bigger aircrafts of up to 50 passenger capacity and 1000 miles (1600 kms) range by 2030s as battery technology improves over time.

“The shift of the industry to large aircraft and long ranges driven by gas turbines has concentrated almost all air traffic to just two percent of our airports, creating a massive transport gap over regional distances where there is no high-speed alternative. As a result, door-to-door times for most journeys are no better than they were 50 years ago,” said Ashish Kumar, CEO and founder, Zunum Aero. “Hybrid propulsion is an industry-changing solution, enabling mid-sized aircraft on regional routes to have better cost efficiencies than airliners.”

Boeing HorizonX is investing in Zunum because we feel its technology development is leading this emerging and exciting hybrid-electric market space. This technology and customer approach has the potential to transform the market for small, short-haul aircraft that can use smaller regional airports,” said Steve Nordlund, Vice President, Boeing HorizonX.

“At JetBlue Technology Ventures, our goal is to be part of a disruptive force rather than the one being disrupted and we seek new technologies that look to change the game,” said Bonny Simi, President, JetBlue Technology Ventures. “As a company that is also deeply committed to innovation in sustainable travel, we believe that Zunum and its quiet, environmentally-friendly aircraft will light up a vast network of underutilized airports and reinvent regional travel.”

Smaller aircrafts will translate into fewer regulations and thus speeding up the process of security checks for the passengers. They claim a 40 % decrease in door to door travel times on busy corridors and by up to 80 % on less trafficked ones. Of course with a step away from conventional fuels towards electric, the emissions and noise will go down significantly as well. Zunum Aero promises 80 % lower emission which will eventually drop to zero as batteries change radically.

With new startups looking at alternative propulsion methods for aircrafts and major stakeholders in the airline industry joining the developments, expect more activity in this space in near future. More details at zunum.aero.

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The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, the third member of the 787 Dreamliner family, made its debut today at Boeing South Carolina. Thousands of employees at the North Charleston, S.C. site celebrated the event, along with U.S. President Donald Trump and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster.

“What’s happening here at Boeing South Carolina is a true American success story,” said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing chairman, president and CEO. “In just a few short years, our team has transformed a greenfield site into a modern aerospace production facility that is delivering 787s to airlines all over the world and supporting thousands of U.S. jobs in the process.”

The 787-10, built exclusively at Boeing South Carolina, will now be prepared for its first flight in the coming weeks.

“This airplane, the most efficient in its class, is the result of years of hard work and dedication from our Boeing teammates, suppliers and community partners in South Carolina and across the globe,” said Kevin McAllister, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO. “We know our customers, including launch customer Singapore Airlines, are going to love what the 787-10 will do for their fleets, and we can’t wait to see them fly it.”

Boeing will deliver the 787-10 to airlines in 2018. The airplane has won 149 orders from nine customers across the globe.

The rollout was celebrated by the Boeing employees and other dignitaries. At the unveiling, US President Trump used the opportunity to appreciate the efforts and highlight the job promises again.

The 787-10, the longest model of the Dreamliner family, will grow the nonstop routes opened by the 787-8 and 787-9 with unprecedented efficiency. As an 18-foot (5.5-m) stretch of the 787-9, the 787-10 will deliver the 787 family’s preferred passenger experience and long range with up to 10 percent better fuel use and emissions than the competition. The 787 Dreamliner family is a key part of Boeing’s twin-aisle strategy, which offers a modern, optimized and efficient airplane family in every market segment. Since entering service in 2011, the 787 family has flown more than 140 million people on 530 routes around the world, saving an estimated 13 billion pounds of fuel.

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