The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft can return to the skies, but it will not allow the plane maker to expand production.

Saying the Jan. 5 incident involving a midair blowout “must never happen again,” the agency has approved a thorough inspection and maintenance process that needs to be performed on the grounded planes. 

What You Need To Know

  • The FAA said Wednesday that Boeing's Max 9 planes can return to the skies

  • The planes have been grounded following a Jan. 5 incident involving a midair blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight

  • The FAA approved a thorough inspection and maintenance process that needs to be performed on the grounded planes

  • The agency will not allow the plane mker to expand production of the Max

“We grounded the Boeing 737-9 MAX within hours of the incident over Portland and made clear this aircraft would not go back into service until it was safe,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement. “The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase.”

He cautioned that the agency’s decision does not mean it will be back to business as usual for Boeing. Whitaker said the FAA will not allow the company to expand production of the 737 MAX until it is certain Boeing has worked out its quality control issues.

“[L]et me be clear: This won’t be back to business as usual for Boeing,” Whitaker said. “We will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737 Max until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.”

The FAA issued its flight clearance after inspecting 40 grounded planes.

Wednesday’s announcement comes on the eve of a planned one-day production stop at Boeing’s 737 factory in Renton, Wash. Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Stan Deal issued the quality stand down order for the factory’s production, delivery and support workers to undergo hands-on training and collaboration to help identify what needs to be done to improve quality.