Report: Boeing Facing FAA Penalties but Has Green Light for 737 Max

Nov. 11—NEW YORK — US aircraft manufacturer Boeing is facing further potential penalties from the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA), due to alleged safety deficiencies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing an anonymous source familiar with the details.

However the airline is also likely to have its 737 Max jet re-certified by the authority next week, the report said.

The FAA has told Boeing that alleged quality-control lapses on assembly lines and other issues could present violations of a 2015 settlement addressing safety-oversight problems, the paper wrote.

Models potentially affected include the long-range 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing, which did not comment on the report, is also said to have withheld sensitive information from investigators during probes into 737 Max accidents.

Nevertheless, the FAA plans to lift the take-off ban on the aircraft as early as November 18, according to US media.

It comes after the supervisory authority completed key phases of the re-certification process months ago and presented drafts for new safety guidelines for the 737 Max.

The model was taken out of service in March 2019 after two crashes, in Indonesia and Ethiopia, resulting in 346 deaths. The main cause of the accidents was considered to be faulty control software that directed the jets towards the ground.

Boeing had attempted to rectify the defects quickly but ran into numerous other problems with the jet. Europe's aviation authority, EASA, signalled its approval for re-certification in October.

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