FAA Issues Fines for 737 MAX Program Safety

In what may signal a change in the Federal Aviation Administration’s on-site monitoring of Boeing’s 737 MAX production program, the agency issued fines in the total amount of $3,139,319 against the company for safety violations between September 2023 and February 2024. FAA emphasized that it applied “its maximum statutory civil penalty authority consistent with law.”

Earlier this month FAA chief Bryan Bedford said the agency has not yet decided if or when to end its oversight of the production process.

In addition to the on-site monitoring, FAA has capped Boeing’s 737 MAX production rate. That is a growing concern for the aircraft manufacturer, which is hopeful of increasing its production rate to address its order backlog and improve its revenue forecast.

FAA has maintained that the production rate will remain unchanged, while acknowledging improvements in Boeing’s safety protocols.

The stated timeframe for the violations covers the period leading up to the delivery of a 737 MAX-9 aircraft to Alaska Air, on October 31, 2023; the jet’s entry into service in November 2023; and the midair failure of the sidedoor plug aboard the aircraft on January 5, 2024.

FAA inspectors took up their oversight of the Boeing 737 complex in Renton, Wash., the following month.

The agency stated it identified “hundreds of quality system violations” at Renton and at subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems’ 737 factory in Wichita, Kansas.

Additionally, FAA reported that during the covered period Boeing presented two unairworthy aircraft airworthiness certification, and failed to follow its quality system.

Earlier this year, the National Transportation Safety Board delivered a report on its oversight of the 737 MAX program, criticizing Boeing’s failure to maintain manufacturing and safety standards, but also identifying FAA’s for its lax oversight of Boeing and its products.