Boeing 737-800 vs Boeing 737 MAX 8

The Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 are two generations of the same aircraft, and the comparison is really about what twenty years of engine and wing development buy. The 737-800 is the best-selling member of the 737 Next Generation family, built from 1998 to 2019 and still the most numerous airliner in the world with around 5,000 delivered. The 737 MAX 8 is its direct replacement, launched in 2011 and in service since 2017, with the same 39.5 m fuselage and seating but CFM LEAP-1B engines, split-scimitar winglets and a new tail cone that together cut fuel burn per seat by around 14% and extend range from about 2,900 to 3,550 nautical miles.

The MAX 8's bigger engines sit higher and further forward on the wing, and the handling change that followed led to the MCAS flight-control software at the centre of the two accidents in 2018 and 2019 and the twenty-month worldwide grounding that followed. The aircraft returned in late 2020 with revised software and training, and the MAX 8 has since become the backbone of Ryanair (as the 200-seat MAX 200), Southwest, American, United, Alaska and many others. The 737-800, meanwhile, remains in huge numbers worldwide, with an active freighter-conversion market as airlines retire their oldest examples.

Passenger experience

The two share a cabin cross-section, so economy on both is 3-3 with seats about 17 inches wide at whatever pitch the airline chooses, typically 29 to 31 inches. Every MAX 8 has the Boeing Sky Interior with sculpted sidewalls, larger pivot bins and LED lighting; 737-800s built after 2010 have it too, but older ones carry the flat-panel interior with smaller bins. The main difference you will notice is noise: the LEAP engines are markedly quieter, especially in the rear half of the cabin. Some MAX 8s, notably Ryanair's MAX 200, are fitted with an extra pair of exit doors and 197 seats, which makes for a tighter cabin than most 737-800s. For the best seat on either, take an exit row or a window forward of the wing; the last rows beside the rear galley are the ones to avoid.

Which to choose

For airlines the MAX 8 wins on fuel burn, range and noise, and the 737-800's case rests on price, maturity and the enormous support base. For passengers, a MAX 8 is a slightly quieter 737-800, nothing more and nothing less, and the airline's choice of seats and pitch matters far more than the generation.