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Investing.com -- Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock jumped 4.3% Friday morning after the Federal Aviation Administration announced it will partially restore Boeing’s authority to issue airworthiness certificates for some 737 MAX and 787 airplanes.
The FAA said in a statement that starting Monday, September 29, it will allow limited delegation to Boeing for issuing the certificates, which confirm an aircraft is safe to operate. Under the new arrangement, Boeing and the FAA will issue airworthiness certificates on alternating weeks.
"Safety drives everything we do, and the FAA will only allow this step forward because we are confident it can be done safely," the agency stated. The decision follows what the FAA described as a "thorough review" of Boeing’s ongoing production quality.
This regulatory shift represents a significant milestone in Boeing’s recovery from a series of safety crises. The FAA had tightened its supervision of the company in 2019 following two deadly 737 MAX crashes, taking over the final safety inspection duties that are typically delegated to manufacturers.
The agency 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.
In May, the FAA renewed Boeing’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) for three years effective June 1, 2025. The ODA program allows authorized organizations to perform certification functions on behalf of the FAA.
The FAA emphasized it will "continue to maintain direct and rigorous oversight of Boeing’s production processes." The new arrangement will enable FAA inspectors to provide additional surveillance in the production process, including more observation of critical assembly stages, examination of trends, and assessment of Boeing’s Safety Management System.
Inspectors will also observe Boeing’s safety culture to ensure employees can report safety issues without fear of retribution, according to the FAA statement.