It comes two years after the near-catastrophic incident where a door plug from a new 737 Max blew off mid-air.

Washington

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authorised Boeing to increase its 737 Max production from 38 to 42 aircraft per month. This approval comes after the FAA conducted thorough inspections and reviewed Boeing's manufacturing processes to ensure the higher production rate can be achieved safely.

Boeing stated it followed a disciplined process guided by its safety management system and key performance indicators agreed with the FAA. The company emphasised its commitment to safety and quality as it works with suppliers to implement the production increase. The FAA will continue to monitor Boeing's operations, and any further increases in production will require additional approval.

FAA lets Boeing increase 737 Max production

details here. Phil and Melissa, they're moving higher because the FAA has given Boeing its approval to increase 737 Max monthly production from 38 per month where they are right now up to 42 per month. Now, we knew that Boeing was going to ask for this approval at some point from the FAA, but we've been told that this afternoon, Brian Bedford, the administrator for the FAA, has started notifying leaders on Capitol Hill that after reviewing the process, he has concluded that Boeing has the steps completed and has the processes in place to safely and effectively move up to 42 per month. In a statement, the FAA released just a few minutes ago to us. They said the FAA safety inspectors conducted extensive reviews of Boeing's production lines to ensure that this small production rate increase will be done safely. They go on to say that they will continue to monitor Boeing. And by the way, if Boeing wants to go up to 47 per month at some point, they're going to need FAA approval. In a statement, Boeing says what you would expect it to say, which is this is what we've been waiting for. The company says our team has followed a disciplined rate readiness process guided by our safety management system and tracked by key performance indicators that were agreed upon with the FAA. We remain committed to implementing our safety and quality plan and working with our suppliers to increase production in this increase in a disciplined manner. We appreciate the work by our team and our suppliers and the FAA to ensure we are prepared to increase production with safety quality at the forefront. So there you have it, Melissa. Not a surprise in terms of we knew it was going to happen at some point, but now it is official. Boeing can increase 737 MAX monthly production from 38 per month up to 42 per month. And you know how this goes, Melissa. Production drives deliveries, which drives free cash flow. And Kelly Ortberg, the CEO of Boeing, has already said he believes they will be positive free cash flow this quarter. And this could be a key component to that. Phil, can you put this raise to 42 in perspective? What have Boeing's goals been by the end of the year in terms of production ramp and what had it been before? Well, they've always wanted to get up to 42 by the end of this year. And initially, some people thought they might get there maybe in the third quarter. But it's been pretty clear. And Boeing has been very adamant that they will not rush this. They wanted to make sure that the FAA completely signed off. And by the way, every day the FAA gets data from Boeing from the manufacturing process in terms of what's working, what's not working, what needs improvement. And they've seen the data for some time. They had a meeting about three weeks ago, where they finally went over the six key performance indicators. And at that meeting, the FAA said, okay, you've shown that you can do this consistently. So Boeing wanted to get to 42, thought they might get there in the third quarter. Realistically, everybody said fourth quarter. Now the question becomes, can they sustain this, not just in terms of quality, but in terms of their supply chain, and then potentially move up to 47 per year, or per month, excuse me, sometime next year.

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Breakdown