FAA lets Boeing sign off on 737 MAX, 787 airworthiness certificates again

The U.S. government on Friday said Boeing can once again issue airworthiness certificates for its bestselling 737 Max aircraft and 787 Dreamliners, an authority that was stripped from the manufacturer after fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 of the 737 Max. The Federal Aviation Administration said last September that Boeing could ticket its own planes before they're handed off to customers for only some of the Maxes and Dreamliners, alternating weeks between the FAA and Boeing doing that work. "During the past eight months, the FAA has seen comparable production quality findings when Boeing issued airworthiness certificates and when the FAA issued them," the agency said Friday. "Based on these results, the FAA determined it can safely return this responsibility to Boeing." The company said in a statement that it "will continue to work under the oversight of the FAA in building safe, high-quality commercial airplanes that comply with all airworthiness certification requirements." The decision is a vote of confidence for Boeing, one of the biggest U.S. exporters by value, from its regulator and the U.S. government after years of safety crises, including the two crashes and a near catastrophe in January 2024 when a door plug blew off of a new 737 Max 9 moments into the flight.