Boeing 737 MAX Completes First Flight

Boeing completed the first flight of the 737 MAX on Friday, after taking off from a wet Boeing Field in Seattle and conducting tests for about three hours.

Live video supplied by Boeing showed the take-off at 9:46 am local time and landing at about 12:33 pm.

The plane is the fourth version of the 737, which made its first flight in 1967 and has become one of Boeing's most profitable aircraft.

The 737 MAX features new engines from CFM International and other refinements which should improve fuel efficiency by 14 percent compared with the current generation 737.

Boeing has taken 3,072 737 MAX orders as it battles for market share against Airbus's competing A320neo, which was delivered to its first customer, Lufthansa earlier this month.

Boeing is expected to deliver its first 737 MAX in 2017, with Southwest Airlines scheduled to be the first airline to receive it.

The first flight of the plane was expected to last about 2 1/2 hours. Tracking web sites showed the aircraft cruising west over the Olympic Peninsula, the western part of Washington State.

Boeing said on Wednesday it would reduce slightly the output of current-generation 737s this year to allow the factory to build the 737 MAX.