Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
FAA to handle safety rating of new 737s
WASHINGTON — Federal safety regulators have indicated that they will keep full control over approvals of each new Boeing 737 Max built since the planes were grounded in March, rather than delegating some of the work to Boeing employees.
The Federal Aviation Administration told Boeing on Tuesday that the agency will retain all authority to issue safety certificates for newly manufactured Max planes.
“The FAA notified Boeing … that the agency will retain authority over the issuance of Airworthiness Certificates for all newly manufactured 737 Max aircraft,” the agency said.
Boeing hasn’t stopped producing the Max, although it slowed down the assembly line in April. The
FAA’s announcement doesn’t cover planes that were approved before the Max was grounded after two crashes killed 346 people.
The FAA decision affects more than 300 finished Max jets currently in storage. Boeing delivered nearly 400 before the Max was grounded.
It is the latest move by the FAA to show its independence from Boeing. Lawmakers have accused the FAA of surrendering too much authority to the aircraft manufacturer in certifying the Max.
Senior FAA officials appeared to know little about a new flight-control system on the plane, which played a role in crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The FAA relied on analysis and testing by Boeing employees, whose work was supposed to be overseen by federal inspectors.
Boeing said recently that it expects to resume deliveries to airlines in December and gain final FAA approval in January for U.S. airlines to resume using the plane.
That was met, however, with pushback by the FAA. Earlier this month, FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson said, “there is a lot of pressure to return this aircraft to service quickly.”
Dickson has refused to publicly set a date for the plane’s return, telling FAA employees “to take the time you need and focus solely on
safety.” Dickson also hasn’t said whether the FAA will go along with Boeing’s desire to resume Max deliveries to airlines next month, even before the FAA approves a new program for training pilots to fly the planes.
A Boeing spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, said Tuesday, “We will continue to work closely with the FAA on the safe return to service of the Max fleet.”
At the current production pace, Boeing could have 386 new Max jets in storage by the close of 2019, Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr said last month in a report.
The manufacturer has stashed new 737 Max jets around the Pacific Northwest and as far afield as San Antonio since the plane was grounded March 13. Boeing isn’t allowed to deliver the single-aisle aircraft while the flying ban is in place.
The large number of planes awaiting delivery significantly exceeds any previous backlog and such a circumstance wasn’t considered when the FAA granted Boeing employees authority to make approvals of aircraft, the agency said in the letter it sent Tuesday to the company.
While the latest FAA action might make it more difficult for large numbers of planes to be delivered by year-end, the extent of the delays — if any — isn’t clear. The agency has enough employees to keep up with the inspections that are done on planes as they roll off the assembly line, said an official familiar with the agency’s action.