Boeing 737 Max planes sit on the airport in Renton, Washington.
Leslie Josephs | CNBC
Boeing can log off on a few of its 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner planes before they’re handed over to customers, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday, the newest sign the manufacturer is regaining confidence from its regulator after years of safety crises.
The FAA stopped allowing Boeing to issue its own airworthiness certificates for 737 Max airplanes in 2019 after two fatal crashes. It made an identical decision for Boeing 787s in 2022 due to production defects.
For the reason that second Max crash, in March 2019, the FAA solely issued airworthiness certificates, which certify planes as protected to fly, for the Maxes. The FAA said that it and Boeing will issue the certificates on alternating weeks.
“Safety drives the whole lot we do, and the FAA will only allow this step forward because we’re confident it could be done safely,” the FAA said in an announcement. “This decision follows a radical review of Boeing’s ongoing production quality and can allow our inspectors to focus additional surveillance within the production process.”
Boeing didn’t immediately comment.
The corporate has been working for years to maneuver past a series of safety and manufacturing issues. A midair blowout of a door panel from one among its recent 737 Max 9s in January 2024 set those plans back further, with the FAA capping production of the Maxes and increasing scrutiny of Boeing, a top U.S. exporter.
“If Boeing requests a production rate increase, onsite FAA safety inspectors will conduct extensive planning and reviews with Boeing to find out in the event that they can safely produce more airplanes,” the FAA said Friday.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took the helm just over a 12 months ago, has said the corporate is targeted on stabilizing its production rate of its Maxes at 38 month, and he has expressed optimism about evaluating a rise beyond that with the FAA.
“I feel pretty confident that we’ll be able here pretty soon to take a seat down with the FAA and undergo what we call a capstone review, which is the method we undergo to not only undergo these [key performance indicators], but to take a look at our entire supply chain readiness, our continued production readiness and move forward with that,” he said at a Morgan Stanley investor conference earlier this month.
Boeing shares were up about 4% Friday.
