US FAA administrator: 'We'd love to see Boeing produce the next big market aircraft here in the US'
US FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Americas, stated (28-May-2026) he expects the Boeing 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 will be certified by the end of 2026, suggesting the 777X will follow in 2027. Mr Bedford stated Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has "got the right mindset" for the company, noting: "Boeing first and foremost has to design great aircraft, and then they have to build them at a high level of quality and that, frankly, is the lowest cost solution for Boeing". He stated the FAA has put significant resources into its aircraft certification team, primarily in anticipation of eVTOL aircraft, but also out of a desire for the FAA to be more collaborative. He continued: "It's self interesting, frankly, for us to want to partner with industry to understand what they're trying to accomplish, because it helps us align our resources so that we're not the bottleneck". Mr Bedford added: "It's a change of mindset, but I think it's designed to help unlock innovation. We'd love to see Boeing produce the next big market aircraft here in the US... so how can we start having that conversation today, to make sure that we aren't the bottleneck for achieving that outcome". [more - Aviation Week]
Background ✨
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 certification programmes were in their final stages, with more than 80% of flight testing completed and full FAA authority in place for the flight test regime.1 Boeing CFO and EVP finance Jesus Malave also said it remained on track for certification, with the MAX 7 having completed TIA flight testing and the MAX 10 remaining in the TIA phase.2