Federal Aviation Administration Oversight of Boeing (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Dec. 5, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF12843 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Bart Elias |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Commercial air travel is one of the safest forms of
transportation, and fatal crashes are extremely rare.
Between 2013 and 2022, U.S. air carriers flew more than
175 million cumulative flight hours and experienced six
fatal crashes resulting in 15 total fatalities. The
International Air Transport Association found that global
airline safety performance improved by 61% over the past
decade. Although design flaws and manufacturing defects
have seldom played a significant role in commercial
aviation crashes, two fatal mishaps and additional serious
incidents involving Boeing airplanes have brought its
design and manufacturing processes under global scrutiny.
As the sole producer of large transport airplanes in the
United States, Boeing is a major focus of Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) oversight. In the wake of these
events, FAA has increased oversight and inspections of
Boeing aircraft development and manufacturing, and
Congress has scrutinized both Boeing and FAA. Some
ongoing challenges to effective FAA oversight of Boeing
include production pressures spurred by continued global
demand; the complexity of a distributed and diverse supply
network; challenges at FAA to recruit, retain, and train its
inspector workforce; and heavy reliance on delegated
aircraft design and production certification functions.
