The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on the 17th that, as Boeing's final safety inspection process has now met the standards required to ensure airworthiness, it will formally reinstate the company's authority to conduct its own safety certification for all its 737 MAX and 787 aircraft starting next week.
According to a statement released by the FAA, the decision follows several months of review. Since September 2025, the FAA and Boeing have been taking turns conducting weekly routine safety inspections on aircraft ready for delivery. The FAA noted that the inspection conclusions reached by official inspectors and Boeing when issuing airworthiness certificates have been highly consistent, indicating that Boeing's internal quality control system has achieved the reliability necessary for independent operation.
Previously, following a series of major safety incidents involving Boeing aircraft, U.S. regulators had tightened controls over the company's self-certification authority. In 2019, after a newly developed software system was implicated in two fatal crashes, the FAA fully revoked Boeing's authority to certify the 737 MAX series. In 2022, due to ongoing production quality issues with the 787 Dreamliner, authorities further terminated Boeing's self-certification privileges for that model.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated that safety is the core driver behind all actions and that this step is being taken based on full confidence that Boeing can ensure safe operations. Bedford also emphasized that while Boeing's self-certification authority is being restored, government inspectors will continue to maintain strict oversight of Boeing's manufacturing facilities. The regulatory focus will shift comprehensively to the earlier stages of the production process to facilitate the early identification and resolution of potential manufacturing flaws.
Boeing subsequently issued a statement in response, affirming that the company remains committed to manufacturing high-quality, high-safety commercial aircraft that meet all airworthiness certification requirements, under the FAA's continued supervision.
Over the past year, the FAA has also been gradually easing monthly production limits on the Boeing 737 MAX series. In January 2024, a door plug blowout incident on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX flight prompted U.S. regulators to impose strict production caps on the model. This summer, the monthly production cap for the aircraft has been incrementally raised from an initial 38 to 47 planes per month.
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