FAA: Work ongoing to lift Boeing 737 MAX production cap
Boeing has been limited to producing 38 737 MAXs per month since January 2024.
Bryan Bedford, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has said that work to lift the Boeing 737 MAX production cap beyond the 38-per-month limit is still ongoing.
According to a report by Reuters, Bedford told reporters that progress to lift the monthly production limit of the 737 MAX is being made, noting that while the process has not progressed as quickly as Boeing would like it to, “it is as fast as we can reasonably move through the process.”
The FAA’s Administrator added that this is a bottom-up process, and the FAA’s frontline employees will have to recommend lifting the cap. However, since no recommendations have been put forth, this means that “the work is still ongoing,” Bedford continued.
During the aircraft manufacturer’s Q2 2025 earnings call, Kelly Ortberg, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boeing, stated that its plans regarding the production of the 737 MAX have not shifted: “methodically ramp up to 38 per month, stabilize at that rate and then request an approval from the FAA for the next rate increase to 42 aircraft a month.”
“In the quarter, we achieved a rate of 38 airplanes per month, and we're now focused on demonstrating stability at that rate.”
Ortberg added that the two sides will continue using the six key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the well-being of the production system, with the KPIs continuing to “steadily progress in line with our expectations we set at the beginning of the year.”
Boeing should request approval from the FAA to lift the cap from 38 to 42 per month “in the coming months," Ortberg said at the time.
During a previous earnings call, Ortberg detailed that the six KPIs are notice of escape (NoE) hours, part shortages, employee proficiency, rework by line, traveled work, and ticketing performance.
The FAA imposed the production cap shortly after an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 suffered a mid-air door plug blowout on January 5, 2024, with the regulator announcing the 38-per-month limit on January 24, 2024.
Mike Whitaker, the then-Administrator of the FAA, explained that the regulator “will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737 MAX until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.”
The FAA’s scrutiny of Boeing and its production quality has continued as the administrations in Washington, D.C., shifted, with Donald Trump, the President of the United States, getting approval for his nominees to lead the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the FAA, following his inauguration on January 20, 2025.
The United States Congress approved Bedford’s nomination to lead the FAA on July 10, 2025.
According to the planemaker’s orders and deliveries data, in July 2025, it delivered 37 737 MAXs to customers, including lessors. Year-to-date (YTD), 737 MAX deliveries numbered 243 aircraft, which includes some 737 MAXs built years ago.
Rytis Beresnevicius
The Seattle Times previously confirmed, citing an internal memo, that Boeing closed down its shadow factory at Grant County International Airport (MWH), also known as Moses Lake, when it moved the last aircraft from the facility.
Aviation Flights Group, which tracks aircraft throughout their assembly process, records showed that one Air China 737 MAX 8, registered as B-20DJ, left MWH on August 12, 2025. The aircraft’s first flight was on November 16, 2019.
China was not only one of the last countries to unground the 737 MAX following the type’s two fatal crashes and the subsequent suspension of operations across the world, but had also suspended deliveries amidst the clash of trade policies with the Trump administration.
The suspension lasted between April 2025 and May 2025. As of July 31, 2025, Boeing had delivered 35 aircraft to Chinese airlines and lessors, including 23 737 MAXs, its orders and deliveries filings showed.
