The Problem Boeing Ran Into After Designing The 737 MAX For Bigger Engines

The Boeing 737 is the backbone of Boeing’s commercial aircraft business, with 737 orders alone accounting for approximately 75% of the company’s backlog of commercial orders. However, this year, the rival Airbus A320 family is overtaking the Boeing 737 in cumulative sales. While the A320 has long outsold the Boeing 737, this was accelerated by the twin fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. The root cause of the crashes was retrofitting larger engines onto an airframe that wasn’t designed for them.