SEATTLE: Boeing Co prepared to stage a maiden flight of the largest member its 737 MAX family on Friday, in a further step towards recovering from the safety grounding of a smaller model.
The first voyage of the 737 MAX 10, expected around 10 a.m. local time (1700 GMT) in the Seattle area, heralds months of testing and certification before it enters service in 2023.
In an unusual departure from the PR buzz surrounding first flights, the event was being kept deliberately low-key as Boeing tries to navigate overlapping crises caused by the 20-month grounding in the wake of two crashes and the COVID-19 pandemic.
