--- title: "Boeing 737 MAX 8: seats, specs, airlines and safety record · Orbit" description: "Boeing 737 MAX 8 — 160–180 seats typically, 6,480 km range. Seat layout, engines, who flies it (Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines) and its safety record, with sources." url: https://orbitflights.app/aircraft/boeing-737-max-8 --- Boeing # Boeing 737 MAX 8 The 737 MAX 8 (Boeing's designation is 737-8) is the re-engined successor to the 737-800, with CFM LEAP-1B engines and a new winglet design. It seats 160 to 180 passengers in a typical two-class layout and is used on short- and medium-haul routes. The worldwide fleet was grounded from March 2019 to late 2020 after two fatal accidents, and the aircraft returned to service following design changes to its flight-control software. **Typical seats** 160–180 **Range** 6,480 km **First flight** January 2016 **In service since** May 2017 _\[Image: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 N8847Q landing at Baltimore/Washington\]_ Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 N8847Q landing at Baltimore/Washington. Photo: [Acroterion / Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southwest%5FBoeing%5F737-8%5FMAX%5FN8847Q%5FBWI%5FMD2.jpg), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), resized. ## Specifications **Manufacturer** Boeing **ICAO / IATA code** B38M / 7M8 **First flight** 29 January 2016 **Entered service** 22 May 2017, with Malindo Air (now Batik Air Malaysia) **Status** In production **Engines** 2 × CFM International LEAP-1B **Range** 6,480 km (3,499 nmi) **Length** 39.47 m **Wingspan** 35.92 m **Height** 12.29 m **Max take-off weight** 82.6 t ## Seats and cabin layout Boeing quotes 160–180 seats in a typical 2-class layout. The type certificate allows at most 189 passengers — the exit limit, which no airline with a premium cabin comes near. ### Boeing’s reference layout Drawn by Orbit from the figures in [Boeing 737 MAX Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning (D6-38A004 Rev K, Jul 2025), §2.4.2 Interior Arrangements: Model 737-8 (178 mixed class)](https://www.boeing.com/content/dam/boeing/v2/airports/acaps/737MAX%5FRevK.pdf). Typical, not any airline’s seat map — your flight may differ. Nose on the left. - Business - Economy ### What the biggest operators fit | Airline | Cabins | Seats | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ----- | | [Southwest Airlines](https://www.swamedia.com/vforcesite/cms/delivery/media/MC5SHG3HNX2FFRVLRCQTZRDPWU7E?channelId=0apHu000000IWrs&language=en%5FUS&version=10.1) | 175 economy | 175 | From each airline’s own seat or fleet page. Airlines often fly more than one version of a type; this is the one they publish. ## Which airlines fly the 737 MAX 8 The largest fleets of this variant. Counts move as aircraft are delivered and retired, so each carries the date it describes. - Southwest Airlines \~323 in the fleet, as of 1 June 2026 · [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest%5FAirlines%5Ffleet) - United Airlines \~123 in the fleet, as of 1 September 2026 · [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United%5FAirlines%5Ffleet) - American Airlines \~103 in the fleet, as of 1 June 2026 · [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American%5FAirlines%5Ffleet) ## Safety record Every fatal accident and hull loss involving the 737 MAX 8, with the investigators' report where one is published. The complete record, minor incidents included, is kept by the [Aviation Safety Network](https://aviation-safety.net/asndb/type/B38M). 1. 29 October 2018 · Java Sea off Karawang, Indonesia ### Lion Air flight JT610 Shortly after take-off from Jakarta, repeated automatic nose-down commands from the MCAS system, triggered by an erroneous angle-of-attack sensor, led to a loss of control and the aircraft struck the sea. 189 killed · aircraft written off · [KNKT report ↗](https://knkt.go.id/Repo/Files/Laporan/Penerbangan/2018/PK-LQP%20Final%20Report.pdf) 2. 10 March 2019 · Near Bishoftu, Ethiopia ### Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 Minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa, erroneous angle-of-attack data caused repeated MCAS nose-down inputs that the crew could not recover from, and the aircraft dived into the ground. 157 killed · aircraft written off · [EAIB (Ethiopia) report ↗](https://bea.aero/fileadmin/user%5Fupload/ET%5F302%5F%5FB737-8MAX%5FACCIDENT%5FFINAL%5FREPORT.pdf) ## Asked and answered ### How many seats does the Boeing 737 MAX 8 have? Boeing quotes 160 to 180 seats in a typical two-class layout, and EASA certifies the 737-8 for up to 189 passengers. Southwest flies its MAX 8s with 175 economy seats. ### Which airlines fly the 737 MAX 8? Southwest Airlines is by far the largest operator, followed by United Airlines and American Airlines; many other carriers fly it worldwide. Ryanair's high-density version is a separate sub-variant, the 737-8-200. ### Is the 737 MAX 8 safe? Two MAX 8s were lost in 2018 and 2019 after a flight-control system (MCAS) acted on faulty sensor data, and the type was grounded worldwide until regulators approved software and training changes in late 2020\. Both official reports are linked above. ### How far can a 737 MAX 8 fly? Boeing quotes a range of up to 6,480 km (3,500 nautical miles), noticeably more than the 737-800 it replaces. Actual range on a given flight depends on payload, weather and fuel reserves. ## Other aircraft - [Boeing 737-800 →](https://orbitflights.app/aircraft/boeing-737-800) - [Airbus A220-300 →](https://orbitflights.app/aircraft/airbus-a220-300) - [Airbus A320neo →](https://orbitflights.app/aircraft/airbus-a320neo) - [All aircraft →](https://orbitflights.app/aircraft) ### Further reading - [The airport codes that make no sense](https://orbitflights.app/blog/airport-codes-that-make-no-sense) - [How flight radar actually works, and why your trail vanishes when you land](https://orbitflights.app/blog/how-flight-radar-works) - [Flight tracker or flight log — which one do you actually want?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/flight-tracker-or-flight-log) ## Every flight you’ve taken, on one globe. Orbit is a flight logbook. Add the airports and the date, and it works out the distance, the hours, the countries and the milestones. [Download now](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qwertybit.orbit) ## Where these facts come from - [Boeing — 737 MAX technical specifications ↗](https://www.boeing.com/commercial/737max) - [Boeing — 737 MAX Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning (D6-38A004 Rev K) ↗](https://www.boeing.com/content/dam/boeing/v2/airports/acaps/737MAX%5FRevK.pdf) - [EASA — TCDS IM.A.120 Boeing 737, Issue 29 (Section 8: 737-8/-9/-8200) ↗](https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/downloads/7297/en) - [Wikipedia — Boeing 737 MAX (first flight, entry into service, launch operator) ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing%5F737%5FMAX) - [Wikidata — Boeing 737 MAX 8 (Q106340166) ↗](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106340166) - [Wikipedia — List of aircraft type designators ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%5Fof%5Faircraft%5Ftype%5Fdesignators) - [Southwest Airlines — Corporate fact sheet (as of 31 Dec 2025) ↗](https://www.swamedia.com/vforcesite/cms/delivery/media/MC5SHG3HNX2FFRVLRCQTZRDPWU7E?channelId=0apHu000000IWrs&language=en%5FUS&version=10.1) - [Wikipedia — Southwest Airlines fleet ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest%5FAirlines%5Ffleet) - [Wikipedia — United Airlines fleet ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United%5FAirlines%5Ffleet) - [Wikipedia — American Airlines fleet ↗](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American%5FAirlines%5Ffleet) Checked on 6 October 2026. If something here is out of date, it is a bug. Boeing and the airlines named are trademarks of their owners; Orbit is not affiliated with any of them. --- Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/aircraft/boeing-737-max-8 for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt