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The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, a division of American company Boeing. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG) and competes with the Airbus A320neo family. The new series was announced on August 30, 2011. It took its maiden flight on January 29, 2016 and was certified by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in March 2017. The first delivery was a MAX 8 in May 2017 to Malindo Air, with which it commenced service on May 22, 2017.
The 737 MAX is based on earlier 737 designs, with more efficient CFM International LEAP engines, aerodynamic changes including distinctive split-tip winglets, and airframe modifications. The 737 MAX series has been offered in four variants, offering 138 to 204 seats in typical two-class configuration, and a range of 3,300 to 3,850 nautical miles [nmi] (6,110 to 7,130 km; 3,800 to 4,430 mi). The 737 MAX 7, MAX 8, and MAX 9 are intended to replace the 737-700, -800, and -900 respectively, and a further-stretched 737 MAX 10 is available. As of December 2023, the 737 MAX has 4,783 unfilled orders and 1,420 deliveries.

The 737 MAX suffered a recurring failure in the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), causing two fatal crashes, Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, in which 346 people died. It was subsequently grounded worldwide from March 2019 to November 2020, with the FAA garnering criticism for being the last major authority to ground it.[6] Investigations faulted a Boeing cover-up of a defect and lapses in the FAA's certification of the aircraft for flight.[7] The accidents and grounding cost Boeing an estimated $20 billion in fines, compensation and legal fees as of 2020, with indirect losses of more than $60 billion from 1,200 cancelled orders.[8][9][10] In 2021, Boeing also paid US$2.5 billion in penalties and compensation to settle the DOJ's fraud conspiracy case against the company.[11][12] Further investigations also revealed that the FAA and Boeing had colluded on recertification test flights, attempted to cover up important information and that the FAA had retaliated against whistleblowers.[7]

The FAA cleared the return to service on November 18, 2020, subject to mandated design and training changes. Canadian and European authorities followed in late January 2021. Chinese authorities were among the last to lift the grounding in December 2021, at which time, over 180 countries out of 195 had cleared the 737 MAX to return to service.

In January 2024, the FAA mandated the grounding and inspections of all 737 MAX 9s with a configuration similar to that of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which suffered a mid-flight blow out of a door plug at an unused emergency exit, causing uncontrolled decompression of the aircraft.