The Federal Aviation Administration restored Boeing’s authority to issue airworthiness certificates at the end of production for all 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner aircraft, according to an agency statement. FAA added that its decision to grant the certification right to Boeing followed its review of several months of data and safety records, and reflects its own confidence in Boeing's ability to issue airworthiness certificates under FAA oversight.

Airworthiness certificates are the documentation issued by FAA (or any national aviation authority) that confirms that the aircraft conforms to its approved design and is safe to operate.

FAA’s predecessor agency delegated certification authority to Boeing’s manufacturing teams in 1956, due to its own resource constraints at that time, and in order to expedite manufacturing efficiency.

When Boeing’s 737 MAX was grounded in March 2019, following the second fatal accident with that jet series over a period of six months, FAA stripped Boeing of its 737 MAX certification power in 2019. It removed 787 self-certification in 2022 due to production quality issues on that jet series.

The aircraft builder has not commented on the FAA decision, but Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope told an audience assembled for the biannual Farnborough Airshow in England that the company is focused on stabilizing its output of 47 aircraft per month for the 737 MAX program, and graduating then to its further target of 52 jets per month.

The FAA had imposed a production cap of 36 aircraft per month on Boeing’s 737 MAX program for much of 2024-25, during the time it’s onsite inspectors were monitoring the assembly operations following the inflight failure of a sidedoor panel aboard a 737 MAX-9 jet, in January 2024.

Boeing has a backlog of more than 4,800 orders for its top-selling model, and deliveries of the 737 MAX are critical to the company’s revenues.

In September 2025, following more than a year of on-site oversight of the 737 MAX program FAA allowed Boeing to share the certifications for some 737 MAX and 787 airplanes on alternating weeks with its own teams. “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 in its announcement.

“Safety drives everything we do, and this step forward is only possible because we are confident it can be done safely,” according to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. “Our inspectors will continue rigorous oversight of Boeing’s production while focusing more of their time where it has the greatest impact—identifying and addressing potential risks earlier in the manufacturing process.”