Boeing and American Airlines have completed the first landing gear exchange on a 737 MAX, less than a decade after the aircraft entered commercial service in May 2017. The work covered both the main and nose landing gear and used overhauled, Boeing-certified assemblies.
The manufacturer supplied the replacement assemblies and installation kits, while wheels, tires and brakes were excluded. The manufacturer did not identify the American Airlines aircraft involved or disclose where the work was performed.
Malaysia’s Malindo Air, now Batik Air Malaysia, introduced the 737 MAX into commercial service on May 22, 2017. Boeing has since expanded its Landing Gear Exchange program to the MAX as the earliest aircraft of the type progress through their maintenance lifecycle.
Landing gear requires major scheduled maintenance during an aircraft’s operating life. Unlike an overhaul in which an airline removes its own landing gear and waits for the assemblies to be inspected, repaired and returned, an exchange allows another overhauled set to be installed immediately.
Exchange pool
Under Boeing’s program, the company supplies certified assemblies from its exchange inventory and assumes responsibility for the overhaul process, incorporation of applicable service bulletins and supplier coordination. The landing gear removed from the aircraft can then enter the exchange pool.
This reduces the period for which an aircraft must remain unavailable solely because its landing gear is undergoing overhaul and also reduces the need for airlines to maintain expensive spare assemblies.
For the MAX, technical documentation indicates that the landing gear overhaul interval can extend to 144 months, compared with 120 months for earlier 737 generations. Maintenance requirements can also be affected by aircraft utilization and other applicable limits.
The first MAX exchange has therefore taken place well before 12 years have elapsed since even the oldest aircraft of the type entered service. Boeing did not say what maintenance requirement or planning decision prompted the work on the American aircraft.
One of American’s oldest MAX 8s spent 35 days in Tulsa
Although the airline and Boeing did not disclose the registration involved, flight tracking data points to one possible candidate.
American Airlines 737 MAX 8 N308RD, MSN 44446, arrived at Tulsa from Dallas/Fort Worth on August 9 and recorded no further flights for approximately 35 days, according to Flightradar24 data. The aircraft returned to service on September 13 with a flight from Tulsa to Dallas/Fort Worth, one day before Boeing announced completion of the first MAX landing gear exchange.
N308RD is among the earliest 737 MAX aircraft delivered to American. The airline received it on December 22, 2017, only seven months after the type entered commercial service.
Tulsa is home to American’s largest maintenance facility and performs heavy maintenance on the carrier’s Boeing aircraft. The 35-day stay is consistent with an extended maintenance visit, although neither Boeing nor American has confirmed that N308RD was the aircraft used for the landing gear exchange.
Boeing expands MAX landing gear overhaul capacity
The manufacturer said it is increasing overhaul capacity with certified maintenance partners as it expands Landing Gear Exchange availability for the MAX. Plans include a larger inventory of MAX-compatible assemblies and additional forward-exchange slots closer to airline operations.
The MAX had already become part of Boeing’s expansion of the program earlier this year. In February, Singapore Airlines Group signed an agreement covering landing gear exchanges for more than 75 Boeing 737 MAX and 787 aircraft, which Boeing described as the largest Landing Gear Exchange agreement in the program’s history.
