Who makes the 737 MAX 8?

Boeing manufactures the 737 MAX 8, the best-selling version of the MAX family, launched in 2011 to match the efficiency of the Airbus A320neo without designing a completely new aircraft. It entered commercial service in 2017. It can be configured for up to 210 passengers in a high-density layout and has a range of about 6,570 km, with larger CFM LEAP-1B engines mounted further forward and higher than on the classic 737, which altered the aerodynamic behavior in certain maneuvers. To compensate, Boeing introduced MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System), software that automatically corrected the aircraft's nose based on a single angle-of-attack sensor.

That reliance on a single sensor proved fatal: Lion Air Flight 610 (October 2018) and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (March 2019) crashed after erroneous MCAS activations, killing 189 and 157 people respectively. Civil aviation authorities around the world grounded the MAX's global fleet for almost two years, the largest grounding of a commercial model in history. Boeing redesigned the software so it would compare both angle-of-attack sensors and require agreement between them before intervening.

The 737 MAX 8 regained FAA certification in November 2020 and EASA certification in January 2021, after undergoing certification audits and new crew training requirements. Today it competes directly with the Airbus A320neo as the backbone of short- and medium-haul fleets at airlines such as Southwest, Ryanair and United.