FAA Lifts Production Cap on Boeing 737 Max, Nearly Two Years After Mid-Air Incident
WASHINGTON (October 18, 2024) – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authorized Boeing to increase production of its 737 Max jetliners, nearly two years after a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines flight in january 2024, prompting a temporary production cap and heightened scrutiny of the aircraft manufacturer’s safety practices. The FAA’s decision signals a cautious return to normalcy for Boeing, but maintains a firm commitment to ongoing oversight.
The move comes after Boeing demonstrated progress in addressing safety concerns identified following the January incident and a series of alleged safety violations between September 2023 and February 2024 that led the FAA to seek $3.1 million in fines. The FAA had capped 737 Max production in January 2024, demanding Boeing present a extensive plan to address quality control issues. This decision impacts airlines, passengers, and Boeing’s financial recovery, as the 737 Max is a key component of many airlines’ fleets and a important revenue driver for the company.
The FAA stated it will not change the way it oversees Boeing production processes and its efforts to strengthen the company’s safety culture, adding that FAA inspectors at Boeing plants have continued to work through the federal goverment shutdown that began october 1.
Just last month, the FAA restored Boeing’s ability to perform final safety inspections on 737 Max jetliners and certify them for flight. Boeing hadn’t been allowed to do that for more than six years, after two crashes of the then-new model in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people. The FAA took full control over 737 Max approvals in 2019, after the second of the two crashes that were later blamed on a new software system Boeing developed for the aircraft.
Earlier this year, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg faced questions from a Senate committee about the production rate of the 737 Max, with lawmakers seeking reassurance from Ortberg that the company was prioritizing quality and safety over meeting production targets for profit.
“Just to be very clear, we won’t ramp up production if the performance isn’t indicating a stable production system,” Ortberg said at the April hearing. “We will continue to work on getting to a stable system.”
