The US Federal Aviation Administration on 27 May announced that Boeing will pay a fine of $17 million to address manufacturing problems with both 737NG and Max aircraft, adding that the airframer and the agency will determine if it is safe to increase production of Max aircraft. The FAA settlement addresses production errors between 2015 and 2019. Boeing installed equipment on 759 of its Max and NG aircraft that contained sensors that were not approved by the FAA, the agency reports. In another production error, Boeing submitted 178 Max aircraft for FAA certification that potentially had slat tracks installed that were both nonconforming and improperly marked. "The FAA will hold Boeing and the aviation industry accountable to keep our skies safe,” FAA administrator Steve Dickson states. Boeing will face up to $10 million in additional fines if it does not fulfill corrective actions. These include but are not limited to improving oversight of parts suppliers and strengthening procedures to avoid installing on aircraft "any parts that fail to conform to their approved design", the FAA says. The airframer must also review its safety processes to determine "whether its supply-chain oversight processes are appropriate" and whether Boeing is ready to pursue its goal of safely increasing 737 production. Its production procedures must also enable the FAA to observe production rate readiness assessments and the data Boeing uses for internal assessments. The agency settlement and forthcoming review of 737 production safety is not related to the automated flight controls that contributed to fatal crashes of Max aircraft. Lawmakers in the US House seek records to begin a new investigation into how the FAA certificated Boeing's Max and 787 aircraft, while the US Department of Transportation is conducting its third review into Max certification. When asked about federal inquiries into manufacturing safety, the Chicago-based airframer has said “we continue to work closely with the FAA and across Boeing to continuously improve safety and quality in our processes". The safety review of Boeing's production further complicates the airframer's goal of increasing the rate of production and deliveries to airlines as the industry prepares for an eventual recovery of air travel demand. The airframer in April paused deliveries of Max jets due to manufacturing errors that affected 106 Max 8 and Max 9 jets in the fleets of around 20 airlines including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. Those US carriers grounded the jets after Boeing disclosed the manufacturing errors that could affect Max electrical systems including standby power control units and instrument panels. The airframer in April paused deliveries of Max jets due to manufacturing errors that affected the electrical systems of 106 Max 8 and Max 9 jets in the fleets of around 20 airlines. The FAA during the week of 12 May approved Boeing's proposed fixes for the 106 Max jets. The airframer advised "we have issued service bulletins for the affected fleet". Concerns about the fuselage on 787 aircraft also prompted Boeing to pause deliveries of those widebody jets from November to March. Critics of Boeing have said that the airframer during recent years shifted its focus from engineering to marketing against Airbus, increasing the risk that it would miss potential errors. Family members of some victims who died in the fatal crash of a Max aircraft owned by Ethiopian Airlines in 2019 disagree with Boeing's decision to maintain David Calhoun as chief executive. Calhoun served as a member of the Boeing board of directors since 2009, during the development and certification process of Max jets. The families of Max crash victims have called for a new chief executive besides Calhoun to refocus Boeing onto engineering and manufacturing safety.

Airbus has become the first manufacturer to receive an aircraft CO2 emissions certificate from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, for the A330-900. EASA says Airbus voluntarily responded to a late-2019 call to come forward for the new certification process. The regulator predicts that "more manufacturers will be seeking early CO2 certification in the immediate future". ICAO adopted the CO2 standard in 2017, and it was implemented into EASA's basic regulation in 2018. EASA says Airbus's experience with the certificate will "contribute to improving and further developing the standards set by ICAO which will benefit the entire industry". The certification methodology assesses aircraft fuel consumption in cruise flight. EASA notes that the process is complex as fuel consumption depends on factors including speed, altitude, and aircraft weight, which diminishes as fuel is being burned during flight. EASA describes the certification as a "key milestone" within its wider effort to establish an environmental label for aviation by 2022. That label will take CO2 emission and other values into account to provide a "comprehensive assessment" of an aircraft's environmental performance, the EU agency says. Its executive director Patrick Ky acknowledges that "there is a long way still to go" to reach the aviation sector's carbon-neutrality target by 2050. "But every step is important in demonstrating that aviation is moving determinedly towards that objective," he states.

Ordering the Airbus A380 was the largest mistake in Qatar Airways' history, chief executive Akbar Al Baker has declared, citing the aircraft's high operating costs and poor environmental performance. "In my opinion, looking backward, it was the biggest mistake we did – to purchase A380s," Al Baker said during a webinar organised by Simple Flying on 26 May. He goes on to criticise the aircraft's high fuel burn and "the mistake in the design" for rendering the aircraft uneconomical. Although the A380 initially seemed to work for the carrier in the mid-2000s when oil prices were low, he recalls, once they began rising the economic case for the aircraft fell apart. "People who have large numbers of A380s in their fleets will suffer in operating costs and from people who are conscious of emissions," he adds. Of the 10 A380s that Qatar Airways ordered, all are currently grounded, and the Middle Eastern airline has taken impairments against five. Al Baker warns: "I don't think there is a market for that aircraft in the near term." Discussing his carrier's fleet strategy, he says Qatar Airways will "take all the Airbus A321LRs we have on order" as the aircraft provides the optimum volume for intercontinental routes in off-peak seasons. Data shows it has 50 A321LRs on order.