by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:40 AM ET, Thu January 22, 2026
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is helping Boeing get the 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 planes certified during a crisis of both aircraft mechanics and what IATA says is a 17,000 global backlog of new aircraft.
The FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told Reuters this week that the FAA helped the domestic aircraft producer get the smaller airplanes certified, but that Boeing still has to put in the work.
“We can only help get them there, but they have got to do the work, and they're doing the work," said Bedford "I don't think FAA is the roadblock on 7 and the 10 certification."
Boeing executives have said they expect to finish the certification process for both the MAX 7 and MAX 10, with over 1,200 orders for the MAX 10 in its backlog alone.
2025 saw a large number of global and domestic airlines ordering new planes from the aircraft manufacturer: Alaska Airlines, Delta, Emirates and Korean Air all struck new deals, some worth $38 billion.
And the FAA, despite fining the company a paltry $3.1 million for safety violations over a six-month period that led to the Alaska Airlines’ plane door to blow out in mid-flight in January, 2024, also raised the production cap for production of the MAX 737 back in October.
The production cap is now 42 planes per month, but it had been reduced following the Alaska Airlines door plug incident, to 38, since the aircraft involved in the incident was the same type.
Yet production caps and major backlogs aren’t the only problem for Boeing: staffing is, too. In mid-January, Boeing posted job listings for 737 North Line shift managers.
While 2024 saw the manufacturer plagued by aircraft machinist union strikes, 2025 saw leaders in government questioning the end of DEI programs to aid in solving the aircraft machinist and mechanic shortage. Aircraft mechanics are largely men, and the average age is 54. An aging professional population without younger people to replace them could further exacerbate the aircraft production backlog.
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