Max’d Out Again: FAA Proposes Inspections For Hundreds Of Boeing 737 Planes Over Seat Installations

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing an inspection of hundreds of seats installed in Boeing 737 Max aircraft due to safety concerns.

The FAA proposed adopting a new airworthiness directive for three 737 Max models—737-8, 737-9, and 737-8200, the agency said in a notice published in the Federal Register on July 27.

An airworthiness directive is a legally enforceable regulation issued by the FAA to correct what it deems to be an unsafe condition in a product. The proposed directive “would require a detailed inspection of the seat track fittings of each left and right side track-mounted passenger seat assembly for correct installation and applicable on-condition actions,” the FAA said in a notice.

According to the agency, it has received a report suggesting that certain track-mounted passenger seats were not properly installed in the models’ seat tracks. Incorrect installations can result in seats disengaging from seat tracks during turbulence, increased load, or emergency landing.

If not addressed, the situation could result in passengers and crew members getting injured during an emergency situation and the aisle becoming blocked, which can slow down an evacuation process, the FAA warned.

The FAA decided to issue the notice after determining that the unsafe conditions are “likely to exist or develop on other products of the same type design,” the agency said.

The issue is estimated to affect 453 airplanes. With an estimated 69 track-mounted passenger seat assemblies per airplane, aircraft operators may need to shell out more than $2.65 million to inspect all the affected seats, according to the FAA.

A Boeing spokesperson said the planemaker issued guidance to ​operators about the issue in December 2025.

“We support the FAA making that guidance mandatory,” the spokesperson said.

The FAA recently determined that Boeing can resume issuing airworthiness certifications for these models. An airworthiness certificate is issued at the last stage of an aircraft’s production process and confirms that the plane is safe to operate.

The FAA prohibited Boeing from issuing these certificates for newly built 737 planes in 2019 following two accidents.

In the first incident, a Lion Air Flight 610 crashed over Indonesia in October 2018. A few months later, in March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed in Ethiopia. Combined, the accidents resulted in the deaths of 346 passengers and crew members.

In 2022, the FAA also stopped Boeing from issuing airworthiness certificates for 787 planes due to production quality issues.

In September 2025, the FAA allowed Boeing to start issuing these certificates for some of the 787 and 737 Max planes. The agency and Boeing issued certificates on alternating weeks.

The FAA said earlier this month that over the past eight months, it has observed that the airworthiness certificates issued by the agency and Boeing had “comparable production quality findings.”

The agency decided that Boeing can now handle this responsibility. The FAA will continue inspecting, monitoring, and auditing Boeing’s production system. The oversight will involve “closely observing and assessing” the company’s safety culture and Safety Management System, the agency said.

“The decision follows months of thorough data and safety review demonstrating consistent production quality and reflects the FAA’s confidence in Boeing’s ability to issue airworthiness certificates under FAA oversight,” the FAA said in a July 17 statement.

737 Deliveries, Orders

Boeing generated better-than-expected cash flow in the second quarter on continued strong demand for its aircraft, extending the US manufacturer’s turnaround efforts after years of crises.

The company reported free cash flow of $631 million thanks to higher payments for new aircraft, solidly beating analyst estimates of a $331 million outflow.

Revenue rose 8% to $24.6 billion, and Boeing said it still aims to generate $1 billion to $3 billion in free cash this year.

The planemaker is now building 47 of its 737 Max aircraft each month in the Seattle area, with plans to increase that rate eventually to 63.

Ramping up production is key to repairing its balance sheet and cashing in on an order book worth $715 billion that gained a boost from a slate of commitments at last week’s Farnborough International Airshow.

Boeing announced over 170 firm and preliminary orders at the show and the company’s management said demand remained strong for its aircraft. 

“While we’re making progress on our development programs, you’re never done until you’re done,” Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg told employees in a memo alongside the earnings.