Originally Posted by
Mad (Flt) Scientist
But the whole point of delegating such functions is that the FAA (and other authorities, this isn't just an FAA issue) do not have the manpower to do all these tasks under normal circumstances. I frankly don't see an (presumably small) group of (likely) overworked FAA employees doing a task they are less familiar with (due to it having been the OEM's responsibility of late) doing any better job the the Boeing guys.
That there are a lot of aircraft to deal with after a long period of storage doesn't make the case that the FAA needs to do this.
What we are talking about here is manufacturing inspectors issuing the initial standard airworthiness certificate for all the new aircraft that were produced since the order that grounded the aircraft type. No standard airworthiness certificates have been issued for a Max since that date. The FAA's manufacturing inspectors are imminently qualified to perform that task, and there are quite a few of them available in the Puget Sound area. They do it all the time at Boeing for various reasons, and for many other aircraft types. The benefit of having the FAA inspectors do it is theoretically they won't be subjected to the same pressures to hurry up the process as the Boeing inspectors would. You can argue whether this is necessary, but don't think the FAA inspectors are less qualified. That is absolutely not true.