FAA Proposes Sweeping Modernization of Transport Airplane Certification Rules

4 days ago2 days ago12 mins

Photo by Martijn Stoof on Pexels.com

The Federal Aviation Administration published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on June 26, 2026, titled “Transport Airplane and Propulsion Certification Modernization” — a sweeping proposal to update large portions of 14 CFR Part 25 in order to reduce certification time and cost without changing the underlying safety standard. The proposal would harmonize FAA rules more closely with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Certification Specifications for Large Aeroplanes (CS-25), codify dozens of frequently-used exemptions and special conditions into the regulation itself, eliminate Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) No. 109, and address several specific National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations. Public comments are due by August 25, 2026, on Docket FAA-2025-0853.

It’s one of the most significant certification-rule updates the FAA has proposed in years — and a direct response to the certification delays that have hit the Boeing 777X, 737 MAX 7, and 737 MAX 10 programs. Here’s what the rule actually does, why it matters, and what comes next.

What the NPRM Actually Proposes

The proposed rule is described in the Federal Register as “both deregulatory and relieving” — meaning it reduces regulatory burden without reducing safety. The FAA estimates the proposal would reduce certification costs and time for both industry and the agency while “maintaining or increasing the level of safety provided by the current regulations.”

The core changes fall into four buckets:

Codify frequently-issued exemptions and special conditions. Under the current Part 25 framework, certain modern aircraft designs — like fly-by-wire flight control systems, integrated electronic standby instruments, side-stick controllers, electronic flight control systems, and automatic speed protection — require special conditions or equivalent level of safety findings during certification because the existing rule language predates the technology. The FAA proposes to fold these frequently-issued exemptions directly into Part 25 itself, eliminating the need for case-by-case findings each time a new aircraft uses them.

Harmonize with EASA CS-25. The FAA and EASA have worked for decades to align their certification standards, but meaningful differences remain. The proposed rule would adopt several EASA definitions and standards verbatim — including a new “low occupancy” airplane definition (passenger seating capacity limited to 19, or larger airplanes configured for no more than one-third of approved passenger capacity, not to exceed 100 seats per deck). Where the FAA differs from EASA, the proposal often narrows the gap rather than maintaining a unique U.S. requirement.

Address NTSB recommendations and ARAC committee work. The proposal incorporates recommendations from both the NTSB and the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) that have been pending for years. Several of the proposed changes specifically address findings from accident investigations and safety committee work that called for clearer rules.

Remove Special Federal Aviation Regulation No. 109. SFAR 109 currently covers “executive interiors” — premium VIP cabin configurations on transport-category aircraft. The proposal removes SFAR 109 entirely and relocates its requirements into specific sections of Part 25, including new §§ 25.4(d), 25.821, 25.823, 25.825, 25.827, 25.829, 25.830, 25.812(e)(3), 25.812(l)(1), 25.1365, and 25.1583(j).

Why “Performance-Based” Standards Matter

The most consequential structural shift in the proposal is the FAA’s move toward performance-based standards rather than prescriptive design standards.

Prescriptive rules specify exactly how a manufacturer must achieve a result. Performance-based rules specify the level of safety the aircraft must achieve and let the manufacturer determine how to meet it. The distinction matters because aircraft technology evolves much faster than regulations. A prescriptive rule written in 1970 may not contemplate fly-by-wire flight controls, integrated electronic displays, or composite primary structures — leaving the FAA to grant exemptions every time a new aircraft uses them.

Performance-based standards solve the problem by writing the rule around the safety objective itself. The result: less duplicative engineering work for industry, less case-by-case analysis for the FAA, and faster paths to certification for genuinely safe designs.

This is the same regulatory philosophy that EASA has pursued for years and that the FAA has gradually adopted in pieces. The June 26 NPRM accelerates that shift across a meaningful portion of Part 25.

What’s Driving This Now

Three factors converged to produce this proposal:

The Boeing certification backlog. Boeing’s 777X program was originally launched in 2013 with expected first delivery around 2020. As of mid-2026, certification is still progressing. The 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 — originally targeted for 2022 certification — are only now nearing approval. These delays cost billions across Boeing, its airline customers, lessors, the supply chain, and ultimately passengers waiting for more fuel-efficient aircraft. The FAA has been under significant pressure from Congress, industry, and the public to demonstrate that its certification process is timely.

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. Section 312 of Public Law 118-63 specifically directed the FAA to undertake certification modernization work. The June 26 NPRM is one of the most substantial outputs of that statutory mandate.

The 2026 FAA-EASA International Aviation Safety Conference. The three-day annual conference concluded on June 18, 2026, in Chantilly, Virginia. Both agencies reaffirmed their commitment to closer collaboration on certification, safety oversight, and emerging technologies. The NPRM landed eight days after the conference closed — timing that emphasizes the harmonization theme.

A broader deregulatory push. As discussed in the FAA’s June 26 NPRM on obsolete twentieth-century airman certificates, the Trump administration has issued multiple executive orders directing agencies to identify regulations that could be modified or repealed without compromising safety. Executive Orders 14192 and 14219 frame the broader regulatory environment in which this Part 25 modernization is happening.

Why This Matters for the Aviation Industry

The certification reforms would primarily affect transport-category aircraft manufacturers (Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier business jets, and emerging manufacturers) and propulsion system manufacturers (GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, CFM International). But the ripple effects extend much further.

For airlines: Faster certification means earlier access to new-generation aircraft with better fuel efficiency, lower emissions, quieter engines, and updated cabin features. The financial impact is significant — both for the airlines that buy the aircraft and for the lessors that finance them.

For passengers: Earlier deployment of modern aircraft means lower operating costs (potentially translating to fares), better environmental performance, and access to enhanced cabin features. Modern aircraft also tend to have improved safety statistics over the long run, so faster fleet modernization can benefit overall industry safety.

For aviation manufacturers and their workforce: Aviation manufacturing is one of the highest-skill, highest-paying manufacturing sectors in the U.S. economy. Streamlined certification helps the U.S. aerospace industry remain globally competitive — particularly important as international aircraft manufacturers like COMAC scale up their certification programs.

For the FAA itself: A more efficient certification process lets the agency focus engineering resources on novel and genuinely high-risk aspects of new aircraft rather than on routine exemptions for technology that’s been in service for decades.

What Stays the Same: The Safety Standard

Critics of certification reform often worry that “speeding up” the process means cutting corners on safety. The FAA has been emphatic that this proposal does not change the underlying safety standard.

The Federal Register notice states the proposal would maintain “or increase” the level of safety provided by the current regulations. The performance-based approach replaces prescriptive rules with safety objectives — the safety bar itself doesn’t move.

Several safety frameworks built up after the Boeing 737 MAX accidents remain fully in place:

Technical Advisory Boards (TABs). The independent review boards the FAA expanded under the Aircraft Certification, Safety and Accountability Act of 2018 continue to review certification projects.

Single-document disclosure of new systems. Applicants for type certificate amendments must still disclose all new systems and intended changes at the beginning of the certification process.

Enhanced ODA oversight. The FAA’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) reforms — the system that delegates some certification work to manufacturer employees — remain in place, including the permanent FAA office overseeing the ODA process.

System Safety Assessment proposed rule. Separately from this NPRM, the FAA has a proposed rule to standardize system safety assessments across all aircraft systems — addressing the integration of avionics, fly-by-wire, and propulsion systems that has driven much of the post-737 MAX reform effort.

In other words: the NPRM modernizes how the FAA writes Part 25 rules, while leaving in place the oversight structures that govern how those rules are applied.

Industry Reaction So Far

Initial industry reaction has been broadly favorable. Aerospace manufacturers and trade associations have long called for certification harmonization with EASA, citing the substantial duplicative engineering work required to certify the same aircraft separately under each agency’s rules.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford has championed certification reform throughout his tenure and disclosed earlier in 2026 that the agency has “a few projects working with industry to see how they can streamline the process.” Former FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker also publicly supported certification modernization work during his tenure.

The proposal also reflects work that has been building for years. Reuters first reported in September 2025 that the FAA was planning to reduce the number of “exemptions, special conditions, and equivalent level of safety findings required during the certification process.” The June 26 NPRM is the formal manifestation of that long-promised reform.

Concerns from safety advocates will likely focus on whether the codified exemptions and special conditions adequately capture all the safety considerations that previously required case-by-case analysis. The public comment process exists specifically to surface these concerns.

How to Comment

Comments must be submitted by August 25, 2026, on Docket FAA-2025-0853:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: regulations.gov — search Docket FAA-2025-0853 and follow the comment-submission instructions.

Mail: Docket Operations, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

Hand Delivery: Same address as mail, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Fax: (202) 493-2251.

The FAA is particularly interested in comments from aircraft manufacturers, propulsion system manufacturers, airlines, type certificate holders, modification applicants, ODA holders, and safety organizations.

How This Connects to Broader FAA Modernization

The Part 25 modernization NPRM is one of several major FAA initiatives moving through 2026:

The $12.5 billion ATC Modernization program launched in May 2026, addressing controller staffing, radar systems, and communications infrastructure
The Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025 addressing pilot mental health and medical certification
The new cardiac disposition tables in the AME Guide (Item 36, published June 24, 2026)
The BasicMed OMB renewal notice (June 25, 2026), preserving the alternative pilot medical pathway
The obsolete twentieth-century airman certificates NPRM (June 26, 2026), removing dead language from Part 61
The Newark Liberty operating limitations extension (June 23, 2026), maintaining the 72-hourly-operations cap at EWR through October 2027

Taken together, these actions represent the most active period of FAA regulatory work in years — driven by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, the broader deregulatory environment, and the practical demands of an industry facing pilot shortages, controller shortages, congestion at major airports, and emerging technologies like eVTOL and supersonic aircraft.

The Bottom Line

The FAA’s transport airplane certification modernization NPRM is a substantive update to the rules governing how the largest and most complex aircraft are approved for commercial service. It aims to harmonize with EASA, codify decades of accumulated special conditions, address NTSB recommendations, and shift to performance-based standards — all while preserving the underlying safety bar.

For aerospace manufacturers, airlines, lessors, and ultimately passengers, the proposal represents a meaningful potential reduction in the time and cost required to bring new aircraft to market. The Boeing 777X, 737 MAX 7, and 737 MAX 10 programs would not retroactively benefit, but future aircraft programs — including the next generation of single-aisle and widebody designs, the emerging supersonic business jet category, and the still-nascent transport-category eVTOL space — would be certified under a more flexible, more harmonized, and more predictable framework.

The 60-day comment period closes August 25, 2026. Then the FAA will respond to comments and issue a final rule on its own timeline — likely sometime in 2027 if it follows standard practice. From there, the changes phase into the certification basis for new and amended aircraft programs over the years that follow.

For an industry that has spent the past five years debating how to balance speed and safety in aircraft certification, this NPRM is the FAA’s most concrete answer yet.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the FAA’s June 2026 Part 25 certification modernization NPRM? On June 26, 2026, the FAA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking titled “Transport Airplane and Propulsion Certification Modernization” (Docket FAA-2025-0853). The proposal would update large portions of 14 CFR Part 25 to reduce certification time and cost while maintaining safety, harmonize FAA standards with EASA Certification Specifications CS-25, codify frequently-issued exemptions and special conditions, remove Special Federal Aviation Regulation No. 109, and address pending NTSB and ARAC recommendations. Comments are due by August 25, 2026.

Does the FAA proposal lower aircraft safety standards? No. The FAA explicitly states the proposal would maintain or increase the level of safety provided by current regulations. The proposed rule replaces some prescriptive design requirements with performance-based standards — specifying the safety objectives an aircraft must achieve rather than dictating exactly how manufacturers must achieve them. Existing safety frameworks like Technical Advisory Boards, ODA oversight, and disclosure requirements for new systems remain in place.

How would this rule affect aircraft like the Boeing 737 MAX or 777X? The proposed rule would not retroactively benefit existing certification programs like the Boeing 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 10, or 777X — those programs continue under current rules. The reforms would apply to future aircraft type certifications and amendments, including next-generation single-aisle and widebody designs, supersonic business jets, and transport-category eVTOL aircraft, once the final rule is adopted (likely sometime in 2027).

How does the proposal harmonize with EASA standards? The proposal would adopt several EASA Certification Specifications CS-25 definitions and standards verbatim — including a new “low occupancy” airplane definition (limited to 19 passenger seats, or larger airplanes configured for no more than one-third of approved capacity, not exceeding 100 seats per deck). Where FAA and EASA standards differ, the proposal often narrows the gap rather than maintaining a unique U.S. requirement, reducing the duplicative engineering work manufacturers must perform to certify aircraft on both sides of the Atlantic.

How can the public comment on the proposal? Comments are due by August 25, 2026, on Docket FAA-2025-0853. Submissions can be made through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at regulations.gov, by mail or hand delivery to Docket Operations at the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, DC, or by fax at (202) 493-2251. The FAA is particularly interested in comments from aircraft and propulsion system manufacturers, airlines, type certificate holders, modification applicants, ODA holders, and safety organizations.

Sources: