Karolis Kavolelis/Shutterstock It may be a civilian airliner, but the story of the Boeing 737 Max has pulled more maneuvers than an F-15. First, the latest version of the groundbreaking 737 was the fastest-selling plane ever. Then tragedy struck, as two 737 Max planes crashed in quick succession, which led the FAA to cap production of the aircraft to force Boeing to spend more time on safety inspections. Things seemed to be getting better until, in 2024, a window panel blew out in mid-flight, terrifying the passengers. The following year, its archrival, the Airbus A320 family, overtook the 737 family in lifetime deliveries. As a result of all this chaos, the 737 Max is now officially... Boeing's bestselling plane ever? I'm going to need an oxygen mask for this one. The Seattle Times reports that in June, the 737 Max officially overtook its predecessor, the 737 Next-Generation, in total orders. That puts the current tally for the beleaguered airliner at 7,206 orders, over half of which have yet to be built. The aviation sector is growing fast, and with much of the global fleet approaching retirement age, new planes are in demand. This drives the bullish run that Boeing has been on lately, including beating out Airbus in annual sales for the first time since 2018. Meanwhile, the FAA has been slowly loosening its grip on the planemaker: In October, the cap was raised from 38 planes per month to 42, which was raised again to 47 in May, which may soon be raised again to 53, per Simple Flying. Boeing has also regained the ability to certify its own planes for safety (well, half the time, anyway). All in, that means both production and orders are up! What could go wrong? Safe planes and stiff competition Kevin Carter/Getty Images For all of us, the risk is that Boeing could rush for the money at the expense of safety, again. This is how the 737 Max became such a problem child in the first place. In fact, the very existence of the Max is a symptom of this: Boeing could have made an entirely new plane to compete with the A320, but as a cost-saving measure, just decided to make an updated version of the 737 instead. This is an airframe that first flew in 1967 and doesn't even feature fly-by-wire controls, which every single other airliner still flying does. Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg keeps insisting that the company's culture has shifted back to the safety-first focus that it held for decades. Whether that fits with an increased production tempo remains to be seen. For Boeing, the thorn in its side is that Airbus continues to soar past it. Oh, the 737 Max has pulled 7,206 orders? That's cute. Just one single variant of the A320, the A321neo, has pulled 7,769. The entire A320neo family has 12,104. The Airbus narrowbody features remarkable range, relatively low flight costs, no history of falling apart in the air, and fly-by-wire controls. It also has side sticks instead of yokes, for what that's worth. Boeing has its work cut out to convince the aviation sector that the Max is the better option.