FAA to hold Boeing 737 MAX tabletop exercises ahead of production rate review

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced plans to hold scenario-based tabletop exercises with Boeing to examine risk factors, prior to deciding whether to remove the current cap of 38 aircraft per month on its best-selling 737 MAX family of narrowbodied aircraft.  

During an event at the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) on August 26, 2025, FAA officials told Reuters that the exercises are designed to help Boeing keep up with quality standards and assess any possible challenges,  

“They still haven’t asked us to increase the rate, and we haven’t agreed to do anything,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a comment to Reuters. “We agreed that it would make sense to start to develop the process by which we would entertain a rate increase conversation.” 

Bedford mentioned that the exercises are still in development and added that completion is expected by the end of September 2025. By then, the agency aims to have a roadmap for evaluating Boeing. 

Boeing’s path through production limits 

On May 30, 2025, the FAA announced that it had renewed Boeing’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) for three years, which allows the company to conduct certain inspections and certify work on the agency’s behalf. 

“The FAA will continue to closely monitor Boeing’s performance throughout its renewal period,” the agency said at the time. 

A day earlier on May 29, 2025, Boeing’s CEO Kelly Ortberg stated that the company remained “pretty confident” about raising the production of its 737 MAX jets from 38 to 42 per month by the end of 2025. 

Boeing hopes that, once the FAA allows the production rate to rise to 42 aircraft per month, the manufacturer can eventually negotiate to reach the target of 47 units per month and beyond. 

These production limits were set following an incident on January 5, 2024, when a door plug separated from an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 shortly after takeoff. Since then, Boeing has come under close scrutiny, with the FAA requiring the company to develop a comprehensive plan to fix its production quality problems. The post FAA to hold Boeing 737 MAX tabletop exercises ahead of production rate review appeared first on AeroTime.

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