FAA restores limited certification role to Boeing

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will once again allow Boeing to help determine whether some 737 MAX and 787 airplanes are airworthy, the agency announced Friday.

The move marks a limited return to Boeing’s ability to issue airworthiness certificates—a practice the FAA halted in 2019 for the MAX following two deadly crashes, and in 2022 for the 787 due to production quality concerns.

Boeing can continue determining airworthiness

“The FAA will allow limited delegation to Boeing for issuing airworthiness certificates for some 737 MAX and 787 airplanes starting on Sept. 29, 2025,” according to a news release. “An airworthiness certificate confirms an aircraft is safe to operate.”

The FAA said it’s confident the change can be made safely and will allow its inspectors to focus more closely on oversight.

“Safety drives everything we do, and the FAA will only allow this step forward because we are confident it can be done safely,” the release stated. “The FAA will continue to maintain direct and rigorous oversight of Boeing’s production processes.”

Boeing and the FAA will alternate weeks issuing certificates.

“This is great news,” said Scott Hamiton, aviation analyst with the Leeham Company. “It’s been a long time coming. It’s understandably been a long time coming, but this oversight by the FAA has been a lot of what’s held Boeing back in its recovery.”

Hamilton told KIRO Newsradio that the FAA will be checking Boeing’s work once this begins.

“There’s no way that the FAA was going to just turn off the switch so to speak of their oversight,” Hamilton said. “They clearly have to become confident that the authority being turned back over to Boeing is going to be a successful transition going forward.”

KIRO Newsradio has reached out to Boeing for comment.

Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.

Follow @FrankLenziKIRO