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

Safety drives everything we do, and the FAA will only allow this step forward because we are confident it can be done safely. This decision follows a thorough review of Boeing’s ongoing production quality and will allow our inspectors to focus additional surveillance in the production process. The FAA will continue to maintain direct and rigorous oversight of Boeing's production processes.  

Boeing and the FAA will issue airworthiness certificates on alternating weeks.   

Background: 

The FAA’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program allows authorized organizations to perform certification functions on behalf of the FAA, such as issuing airworthiness and production certifications for aircraft. In May, the FAA renewed Boeing’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) for three years effective June 1, 2025.  

Resuming limited delegation to the Boeing ODA will enable FAA inspectors to provide additional surveillance in the production process. For example, there will be more FAA inspectors observing critical assembly stages, examining trends, ensuring Boeing mechanics are performing work to approved type design and engineering requirements, and assessing all activities for Boeing’s continuous improvement of its Safety Management System (SMS). Inspectors will also observe Boeing’s safety culture, ensuring that Boeing employees can report safety issues without fear of retribution.   

The FAA stopped allowing Boeing to issue airworthiness certificates for 737 MAX airplanes in 2019 during their return to service following the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, and for Boeing 787 airplanes in 2022 because of production quality issues.