The Federal Aviation Administration proposed an airworthiness directive Monday requiring airlines to inspect passenger seat installations on 453 Boeing $BA 737-8 and 737-9 aircraft registered in the United States.
Seats on some MAX jets were incorrectly installed in their tracks and could disengage during turbulence or an emergency landing
Richard Baker / Getty Images
The Federal Aviation Administration proposed an airworthiness directive Monday requiring airlines to inspect passenger seat installations on 453 Boeing $BA 737-8 and 737-9 aircraft registered in the United States.
The FAA said the directive stems from a report that certain passenger seat assemblies had been improperly seated in their tracks on some MAX jets. "A track-mounted passenger seat assembly that is installed incorrectly can disengage from the seat tracks if there is an increased load, turbulence, or emergency landing," the agency said. "This condition, if not addressed, could result in injury to passengers and crew during an emergency landing or could block the aisle, which could slow evacuation."
Each 737 MAX can have as many as 69 track-mounted passenger seat assemblies. The FAA estimated each assembly would take about one work-hour to fix, with total inspection costs for U.S. operators reaching approximately $2.7 million before any re-installation expenses, according to The Wall Street Journal. The directive did not specify a deadline for airlines to complete the work, according to CNN.
Boeing said it supported the FAA's decision to make the inspection guidance mandatory for operators. The 453 affected jets represent roughly a fifth of the more than 2,300 MAX aircraft in operation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The directive comes on the heels of the FAA returning to Boeing the ability to sign off on the airworthiness of newly built 737s — a responsibility the agency stripped from the manufacturer in 2019 in the wake of two fatal MAX crashes.
Boeing reported a second-quarter net loss of $428 million on Tuesday, the same day the seat inspection directive drew attention. The company's Commercial Airplanes segment posted revenue of $11.8 billion in the quarter, up from $10.9 billion a year earlier, as deliveries climbed 14% to 171 planes. Boeing said certification flight testing has been completed on both the 737-7 and 737-10, with certification anticipated in 2026 and first delivery in 2027 for both variants.
Boeing has faced a series of manufacturing quality issues in recent years. In January 2024, a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX in flight, leading to a temporary grounding of dozens of jets and a proposed FAA fine exceeding $3 million.
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