The U.S. has increased the production limit for Boeing 737 Max airplanes. Shares rose

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has increased the monthly production limit for Boeing 737 Max airplanes, the most popular in the airplane maker's lineup. This was the first time in almost two years after an incident when the airplane's door plug fell off during flight. Shares of Boeing, which had long awaited the easing, jumped more than 1 percent in the aftermarket.

The FAA has raised the production limit for the 737 Max from 38 to 42 airplanes per month, Reuters reported, citing the agency. The "unprecedented" limit on aircraft production volumes is effective from January 2024, the agency noted. The limit changed for the first time since then.

The FAA said its inspectors "conducted thorough inspections of Boeing's production lines to ensure that this small increase in output would be conducted safely," Reuters reports.

Boeing said it plans to work with suppliers to look at increasing production, CNBC reported.

Shares of the aircraft maker jumped 2.7% in extended trading on October 17, but then slowed to about +1.5%. The main session ended with a 0.5% appreciation to $212.94.

The FAA's decision is a turning point for Boeing, which has been plunged into a safety crisis since the Alaska Air plane door incident nearly two years ago, Reuters noted. The FAA has now softened its stance and its confidence in Boeing has increased, CNBC said.

The increase in output is an important step to build up the company's cash cushion, Bloomberg wrote. Boeing hasn't posted an annual profit at any time since 2018, CNBC added.

In mid-October, Boeing reported its best delivery quarter in seven years: it delivered a total of 160 aircraft to customers. The annual result at this pace could also be the highest in the same timeframe. In the first nine months of 2025, Boeing delivered 440 commercial airplanes. In terms of this indicator, it lags far behind Europe's Airbus, which delivered 507 airplanes in the same period.

The cause of the Alaska Air plane's door plug tearing off, the investigation found, was the absence of four important bolts on the plane when it left the factory. That said, the production limit of 38 planes that the FAA set after the incident was higher than the current production rate at the time, CNBC noted.

The Max program, even before the Alaska Air incident, suffered two plane crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. Afterward, 738 Max flights worldwide were suspended for nearly two years.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor