The Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing are facing Congressional pressure not to move ahead with a proposal that would exempt Boeing’s 737 Max 7 from some certification rules.
Boeing last year asked the FAA to temporarily exempt the long-delayed Max 7, which is not yet certificated, from some airworthiness rules due to an engine anti-ice problem.
The exemption would allow the FAA to certificate the jet despite it not initially meeting FAA standards. Boeing says it is working on a permanent fix.
“I strongly oppose Boeing’s petition to the FAA requesting an exemption from safety standards to prematurely allow the 737 Max 7 to enter commercial service,” US Senator Tammy Duckworth says in a 24 January letter to FAA administrator Michael Whitaker.
Duckworth, chair of the aviation safety subcommittee on the Senate transportation committee, also met with Boeing chief executive David Calhoun on 25 January .
“In their meeting, Duckworth pushed Boeing to prioritise fixing this flaw that is a single point of failure subject to human error instead of effectively putting profit over the safety of the flying public,” Duckworth’s office says.
Boeing declines to comment.
FlightGlobal reported in December that Boeing had asked the FAA to exempt the Max 7 from some rules through May 2026. Boeing made the request due to a known issue involving possible overheating of the jet’s engine anti-ice system.
The request has already raised concern among pilot unions.
The issue is familiar to Boeing and the FAA, which last year issued an airworthiness directive addressing the same problem with Boeing’s two in-service Max models – the Max 8 and Max 9. That order prohibits some operations and specifies when pilots are to use the anti-ice system.
“FAA owes it to the flying public, and the families who lost loved ones in the deadly 737 Max 8 crashes, to hold firm in rejecting Boeing’s reckless attempts to cut corners on safety,” Duckworth’s office says of the exemption.
