The FAA has officially returned to Boeing the right to self-issue airworthiness certificates for new 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner aircraft. This decision was immediately reflected in the stock price: the aerospace giant's shares rose 1.0% in pre-market trading. It marks the end of a multiyear period of heightened regulatory oversight introduced after a series of production breaches.

Boeing obtained partial self-certification rights as early as September 2025: at that time the company and the regulator alternated in issuing certificates on a weekly basis. Over the subsequent eight months the FAA found that production quality remained comparable regardless of who issued the certificate and concluded that a full transfer of those powers to Boeing does not pose a safety risk.

FAA administrator Bryan Bedford commented on the decision: "Safety drives everything we do, and this step forward is only possible because we are confident it can be done safely."

An additional positive market signal came from FAA deputy administrator Chris Rocheleau at the Farnborough air show: certification of the 737 MAX 7 is "literally not far away," and the MAX 10 will follow soon after.

The FAA also expects to certify the Boeing 777X after approval of the two MAX variants — according to Rocheleau, that could occur either at the end of the current year or in early 2027, depending on when Boeing provides the required documentation.

Boeing's management views these steps as confirmation of progress. Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said on the eve of the air show that the company has a very strong order book and stressed that demand is not the problem: the company's priority is to listen to customers and suppliers and to ramp up production.

The company's financial picture also gives cause for optimism. Boeing, which posted annual losses from 2018 through 2024, expects to reach positive cash flow in the second half of 2026.

Earlier this week, the company reported delivery of 314 commercial aircraft in the first half of the year — a record for the period since 2018. The expected lift from newly certified aircraft is viewed as a key element of the company's long-term target of $10 billion in free cash flow per year.

The overall US equity market backdrop remained supportive: the S&P 500 gained 0.4%, the Dow Jones rose 0.3%, and the Nasdaq advanced 0.7%, reflecting risk appetite across most sectors.

The combination of restored certification powers, senior FAA officials' comments on imminent certification of new MAX variants and record first-half deliveries creates the image of a company emerging from a turning point after years of safety and production crises.

For investors this provides a compelling reason to consider buying Boeing shares ahead of the company's second-quarter results, scheduled for release on July 28, 2026.