Despite recent accidents FAA says Boeing can resume self-certifying its jets as airworthy. Why?

July 17, 2026

By Yiannis Damellos

On July 10, a piece of the engine broke off a Boeing 737 ​NG and smashed the plane's window shortly after takeoff from Thessaloniki in Greece. The event had similarities to problems on two prior Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 NG flights in 2016 and 2018. Other Boeing aircraft have been involved in a small number of severe commercial and cargo incidents between 2021 and 2026. Notable occurrences include a 737-524 crash in Indonesia (2021), and a cargo 737-400 crash in Lithuania (2024), not to mention a fatal B-52 bomber crash in Southern California (2026). There was also a widely reported structural failure on a 737 Max 9 in January 2024, which led to temporary fleet groundings.

Yet, Boeing will be allowed to take responsibility for certifying all of its 737 Max and 787 planes starting next week, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday. Why?

Apparently, the FAA is returning full "ticketing" authority to Boeing because a strict eight-month trial proved Boeing's safety checks now match federal government standards.

On July 17, 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that effective Monday, July 20, 2026, Boeing can independently issue individual airworthiness certificates for all newly built 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

The decision to lift the restrictions—originally imposed on the MAX in 2019 and the 787 in 2022—is based on a specific regulatory transition and a data-driven trial period.

Since September 2025, the FAA and Boeing have used an alternating, week-by-week system to sign off on planes.

Over these eight months of data review, Boeing's internal quality findings directly mirrored the FAA's own inspector findings.

The FAA determined Boeing's final assembly line safety checks are robust enough to guarantee airworthiness without duplicate weekly government ticketing.

Also, handing back routine ticketing frees up federal personnel, while FAA inspectors will pivot from final paperwork to high-risk areas earlier in manufacturing. That will enable teams to focus on critical assembly activities and safety culture monitoring.

Fortunately, the government will retain several guardrails, which is reassuring to a certain degree; although this is not a complete return to pre-2019 delegation practices, the FAA is maintaining several strict control measures, such as Production Caps, while Boeing must still comply with government-mandated monthly output limits.

Furthermore, the unreleased 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 models are excluded from this and still require full, direct FAA type-certification.

Ultimately, the FAA will perform ongoing, unannounced assembly audits and data monitoring.

What follows is a list of recent major Boeing accidents and incidents (2021–2026)

• July 2026: A K2 Airways 737-400 freighter crashed in the Arabian Sea, and a Ryanair 737-800 had an in-flight engine blowout over Greece.
• June 2025: An Air India 787-800 crashed in Ahmedabad, resulting in over 240 fatalities.
• Nov. 2024: A Swiftair 737-400SF freighter crashed near Vilnius, Lithuania, and a Total Linhas Aéreas cargo 737-400SF made an emergency landing after a fire.
• May 2024: A Transair 737-300 overran a runway during takeoff in Senegal.
• Jan. 2024: An Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 suffered a door-plug blowout, prompting temporary FAA groundings.
• Feb. 2023: A Coulson Aviation 737-300 firefighting plane crashed in Western Australia.
• Jan. 2021: Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, a 737-524, crashed into the Java Sea.