US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has urged the Federal Aviation Administration to speed up certification of new aircraft, arguing that long approval cycles are weakening the country’s position against China. He warned in Washington on Wednesday that the process for new aircraft types can stretch for years and discourage investment in aviation innovation.
The FAA proposed certification reforms in June aimed at cutting the time and cost of approving transport-category aircraft and propulsion systems. The changes would reduce reliance on repeated exemptions, special conditions and equivalent-level-of-safety findings, while bringing US rules closer to those used by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Current FAA certification timelines can run to five to nine years for a new type certificate and three to five years for modifications to existing designs. The slow pace has become a strategic concern for Boeing and other manufacturers as China expands its aerospace ambitions and manufacturers weigh where to place future investment.
The issue remains sensitive across the sector after the FAA recently delayed Boeing’s 737 MAX 10 certification over a newly disclosed software problem. That setback underscored how certification can still become a bottleneck even when a programme is close to approval.