Boeing Can Resume Issuing Airworthiness Certificates for All 737 MAX, 787 Jets: FAA

Boeing was banned from issuing 737 Max certification in 2019 following two incidents that killed 346 people.

A Copa Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 lands at Los Angeles International Airport, in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 14, 2026. Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that Boeing can resume issuing airworthiness certifications for all its 737 Max and 787 planes after halting the company’s authority due to safety and quality concerns.

“The decision follows months of thorough data and safety review demonstrating consistent production quality and reflects the FAA’s confidence in Boeing’s ability to issue airworthiness certificates under FAA oversight,” the agency said in a July 17 statement.

The decision is effective as of July 20.

An airworthiness certificate, issued at the last stage of an aircraft’s production process, confirms that the plane is safe to operate.

The FAA had stopped allowing Boeing to issue airworthiness certificates for newly made 737 Max planes in 2019 following two incidents—the Oct. 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crash over Indonesia and the March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash in Ethiopia.

The incidents led to the deaths of 346 passengers and crew members.

In both of the deadly crashes, a software system developed by Boeing pitched the nose of the plane down repeatedly based on faulty readings from a single sensor, and pilots flying for Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines were unable to regain control. After the Ethiopian Airlines crash, planes were grounded worldwide for 20 months.

Investigators found that Boeing did not inform key FAA personnel about changes it had made to the software before regulators set pilot training requirements for the Max and certified the airliner for flight.

The FAA banned Boeing from issuing airworthiness certificates for 787 planes in 2022 due to production quality issues.

In September 2025, the FAA allowed Boeing to start issuing these certificates for some of the 787 and 737 Max planes. The agency and Boeing issued certificates on alternating weeks. The FAA said that over the past eight months, it has observed that the airworthiness certificates issued by the agency and Boeing had “comparable production quality findings.”

The FAA decided that Boeing can now handle this responsibility. The agency will continue inspecting, monitoring, and auditing Boeing’s production system. The oversight will involve “closely observing and assessing” the company’s safety culture and Safety Management System, the FAA said.

Mike Fleming, senior vice president of Airplane Programs and Customer Service of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, speaks during the opening of the company's new North Line assembly line, which will produce the 737 MAX aircraft, at the Boeing Everett Factory in Everett, Washington, on July 10, 2026. Jason Redmond / AFP via Getty Images

“Safety drives everything we do, and this step forward is only possible because we are confident it can be done safely,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in the statement.

“Our inspectors will continue rigorous oversight of Boeing’s production while focusing more of their time where it has the greatest impact—identifying and addressing potential risks earlier in the manufacturing process.”

The 737 Max model was also involved in a major safety incident in January 2024, when a door panel of a plane operated by Alaska Airlines blew off midflight. After this incident, the FAA instituted monthly production limits for 737 Max planes.

Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, on June 25, 2024. Jennifer Buchanan/Reuters

According to Boeing’s website, the company has deployed a safety and quality plan to strengthen safety management and quality assurance.

“The plan focuses on investing in workforce training, simplifying plans and processes, eliminating defects, and elevating our safety and quality culture,” the company said.

Boeing claims to have made product safety and quality training mandatory, expanded quality audits, simplified work instructions, improved tool control, and established employee involvement teams to raise and solve issues.

New Orders

In the first quarter of 2024, when the Alaska Airlines incident took place, Boeing’s aircraft deliveries had tumbled to 83 commercial aircraft, from 157 planes in the prior quarter. A total of sixty-seven 737 planes and thirteen 787 aircraft were delivered during the quarter, according to an April 2024 statement from the company.

In an April 14 statement, Boeing announced it had delivered 143 commercial planes for the first quarter of 2026, which included 114 model 737 deliveries and fifteen 787 aircraft.

A Boeing 737 Max 8-200 aircraft of Irish budget airline Ryanair flies past the Waxing crescent moon in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on Dec. 27, 2025. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images

Boeing also recently nabbed new orders for its 737 and 787 models.

On July 20, Boeing announced that SMBC Aviation Capital had placed an order for a hundred 737 MAX airplanes. With the order, SMBC’s portfolio of 737 MAX jets that it owns, manages, and committed to has jumped to 450 planes.

The same day, Boeing said that Philippine Airlines had committed to order up to twenty 787 aircraft. The commitment is expected to support the airline’s fleet modernization and expansion plans.