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FAA confirms it will delay 737 MAX 10 certification over software defect

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency will hold off certifying the 737 MAX 10 until it is satisfied the flight management computer software defect disclosed last week is resolved.

28 September 2026

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters in Washington on 28 September 2026 that the agency "will be delaying the [MAX] 10 certification until we're satisfied that we don't have an issue here," turning what Boeing had described two days earlier as a pending safety review into a confirmed delay. The defect, in the 737 MAX flight management computer, can cause the flight guidance system to drop out of vertical navigation during a go around when the crew has altered the programmed flight path with the autopilot engaged.

Bedford said the affected flight management computer software, versions 14 and 14.1, is supplied to Boeing by GE Aerospace, and that a fix could come relatively quickly, though he gave no certification timeline. Boeing shares fell as much as seven percent on the news. No Airworthiness Directive has been issued, and Boeing and the FAA continue to say the autopilot functions without vertical navigation, with pilots trained to hand fly the vertical path in that mode.

On the line

No inspection or compliance action applies yet, since no Airworthiness Directive has been issued. Reinforce go around procedure familiarity for MAX crews, and watch for Boeing's accelerated software fix and pilot bulletin, both previously expected around November.

Sources