FAA restores Boeing’s authority to certify 737 Max and 787 jets

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that Boeing can again sign off on airworthiness certificates for its 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner aircraft. For investors, the decision is a regulatory milestone for one of the country’s largest exporters after years of scrutiny over aircraft safety and production quality.

An airworthiness certificate is the formal approval that allows a specific aircraft to be delivered for service. In plain English, it is the final regulatory ticket showing that a plane meets required safety standards before it goes to a customer.

The FAA had taken that authority away from Boeing after two fatal 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019. Since then, the regulator has kept tighter control over parts of the certification process for Boeing’s commercial jets.

The agency began easing that restriction last September, when it allowed Boeing to issue certificates for some 737 Max and 787 aircraft. Under that setup, Boeing and the FAA alternated weeks handling the work, according to the FAA.

On Friday, the FAA said the results of that period supported handing the responsibility back to the company.

“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. “Based on these results, the FAA determined it can safely return this responsibility to Boeing.”

What changed for Boeing

The decision covers Boeing’s 737 Max, its best-selling aircraft family, and the 787 Dreamliner. It means the company can once again issue the certificates itself before those planes are handed over to airline customers.

The FAA’s move is a notable sign of confidence from Boeing’s main U.S. regulator. The company has spent years under close government oversight after the two Max crashes and, more recently, a January 2024 incident in which a door plug blew off a new 737 Max 9 shortly after takeoff.

That 2024 event renewed attention on Boeing’s manufacturing controls and quality systems. The FAA’s Friday statement focused on the eight-month comparison between Boeing-issued and FAA-issued certificates, saying the agency saw similar production quality findings in both cases.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to CNBC.

Why investors are watching

Boeing is one of the biggest U.S. exporters by value, and its commercial aircraft business is central to the company’s long-term performance. Regulatory restrictions can affect how the company handles production and customer handoffs, even when they do not change demand for planes.

The FAA’s decision does not erase Boeing’s recent safety history. It does show that the regulator is prepared to return one important certification task to the manufacturer after months of side-by-side oversight.

For shareholders and airline customers, the main takeaway is narrower but significant: the FAA says Boeing’s recent certificate work was comparable to the agency’s own findings, and the company is getting back a responsibility it lost after the Max crisis.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.