FAA allows Boeing to increase 737 Max production nearly two years after
door plug flew off plane
[October 18, 2025] By
RIO YAMAT and JOSH FUNK
The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it will allow Boeing to
produce more 737 Max airplanes by increasing the monthly limit that it
imposed after a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines jet that the
company built.
Boeing can now produce 42 Max jets per month, up from 38, after safety
inspectors conducted extensive reviews of the aerospace company's
manufacturing lines to ensure an increase in production can be done
safely, the FAA said.
The agency had set a cap on production shortly after the terrifying
January 2024 incident involving the Alaska Airlines 737 Max jet. In
practice, though, the production rate fell well below the ceiling last
year as the company contended with investigations and a machinists’
strike that idled factories for almost eight weeks. But Boeing said over
the summer that it had reached the monthly cap in the second quarter and
would eventually seek the FAA's permission to start producing more of
the planes.
A spokesperson for Boeing said Friday that the company followed a
“disciplined process” to make sure it was ready to safely increase
production, using safety guidelines and performance goals that it set
with the FAA.
“We appreciate the work by our team, our suppliers and the FAA to ensure
we are prepared to increase production with safety and quality at the
forefront,” Boeing said in a statement.
The FAA also said Friday this won’t change the way it oversees Boeing
production processes and its efforts to strengthen the company’s safety
culture, adding that FAA inspectors at Boeing plants have continued to
work through the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1.
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Traffic drives in view of a Boeing Co. production plant, where
images of jets decorate the hangar doors on April 23, 2021, in
Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Just last month, the FAA also restored Boeing's ability to perform final
safety inspections on 737 Max jetliners and certify them for flight.
Boeing hadn't been allowed to do that for more than six years, after two
crashes of the then-new model killed 346 people. The FAA took full
control over 737 Max approvals in 2019, after the second of the two
crashes that were later blamed on a new software system Boeing developed
for the aircraft.
Earlier this year, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg faced questions from a
Senate committee about the production rate of the 737 Max, with
lawmakers seeking reassurance from Ortberg that the company was
prioritizing quality and safety over meeting production targets for
profit.
"Just to be very clear, we won’t ramp up production if the performance
isn’t indicating a stable production system," Ortberg said at the April
hearing. “We will continue to work on getting to a stable system.”
The incident involving the Alaska Airlines flight that prompted the
production cap on Max jets was among a series of alleged safety
violations by Boeing between September 2023 and February 2024 that led
to the FAA seeking $3.1 million in fines from the company.
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