The US Boeing Group still will not be able to increase the production of B-737 MAX planes, as decided by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The reason is that there remain product safety issues that the aircraft manufacturer is facing and has not fully resolved. This is what emerged during a closed-door meeting between the top management of the agency and the producer.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said he will not approve an increased in production of the 737 MAX "in the coming months" and will continue to monitor improvements in quality and safety "to get a full picture of the situation and ensure that the system is working as safely as it should". The manufacturer instead hoped to be able to build more aircraft starting from mid-2024, but this will not be the case. 

In February 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a maximum limit on the number of aircraft produced each month on Boeing. This was due to a plug door that exploded on board a B-737 MAX 9 aircraft (registration N704AL) which had just taken off (flight AS-1282) on 5 January 2024.

On the same topic, see also the article published by AVIONEWS.