A Boeing 737 MAX airplane.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Washington: The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday the agency had not made any decision on whether to lift the 38 planes per month 737 MAX production cap in place since early 2024, or on how it oversees Boeing production.
"Progress is being made. It may not be as fast perhaps as Boeing would like but it is as fast as we can reasonably move through the process," FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters after an event in Washington.
The FAA imposed the unprecedented production cap shortly after a January 2024 mid-air emergency involving a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 missing four key bolts. Since then, the FAA has maintained enhanced in-person oversight of Boeing production.
Bedford said he was encouraged by Boeing's improvements but was waiting for data to answer key questions.
"This is going to be a bottom-up process - front-line FAA team that's really on them to make the recommendation of whether they feel like we've reached some of the milestones that would warrant any kind of change," Bedford said. "None of those recommendations have come up yet. That tells me the work is still ongoing."
Bedford said last month the FAA would do scenario-based planning, known as tabletop exercises, with Boeing before granting approval.
Boeing declined to comment, but referred to comments from CEO Kelly Ortberg in July. "We expect to be in a position to request approval from the FAA in the coming months to increase to 42 aircraft per month," Ortberg said at the time, adding its key performance indicators continued to progress steadily.
Separately, Bedford said at an event that the agency was being "stretched thin" as it pursues a massive $12.5 billion overhaul of the U.S. air traffic control system, oversight of Boeing as well as new rules on drones and supersonic airplanes and modernizing airplane certification.
Bedford said the FAA needed significant reform and to address an air traffic system that was "failing every day in small things" like broken circuits and telecom lines.