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By the Leeham News Team

April 19, 2022, © Leeham News: Following 737 MAX grounding, Boeing was found to have exerted undue influence on their ODA unit and its members.

ODA stands for Organization Designation Authorization. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) designates personnel employed by a company to be its official on-site representatives. The MAX crisis put a spotlight on the Boeing-FAA ODA relationship. Faults were found and the uninformed in many cases thought the existence of ODAs was a scandal. But it’s a system that’s been around for decades, and it’s not limited to Boeing.

Let's look at exactly what that means as we try to understand the impact on certification schedules at Boeing.