David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Transportation said he will keep production limits on Boeing’s (NYSE: ) 737 MAX jets in place after a panel exploded mid-air last year until he is satisfied it can be safely lifted.
“The restriction will remain in place and will be lifted when I, in consultation with career safety experts at the FAA and the administrator, are satisfied that the increase in production will not reduce the quality of the aircraft being produced,” former Rep. Sean Duffy said in written comments provided To the Senate Commerce Committee.
In January 2024, then-FAA chief Mike Whitaker imposed a production limit of 38 planes per month after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9.
Duffy, whose nomination was approved by the board in a 28-0 vote on Wednesday, said last week that Boeing needed “tough love” to get back on track.
In his written responses to questions from senators on Wednesday, Duffy said he plans to meet with Boeing management at the “earliest point possible” so he can “make it clear that the Department and the FAA will continue to hold them accountable for the action plan that has been developed, and which the Institute accepted.”
Duffy added that he “will also direct FAA leadership to monitor the adequacy of the action plan.”
In May 2022, the FAA approved a three-year renewal of Boeing’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program that delegates some aircraft certification tasks to the plane manufacturer instead of the five years Boeing had requested. The approval expires in a few months.
Duffy said he will work with the FAA administrator and career safety experts “on the future parameters of Boeing’s ODA.” The deal has come under scrutiny after two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 involving one of the plane’s systems.
Boeing declined to comment.
Whitaker stepped down as FAA administrator on Monday, when Trump took office, and the new administration has not named a successor or said who will lead the agency in an acting role.
