By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Boeing will receive a less restrictive regulatory compliance extension from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration than it requested. The agency stated that this was to ensure the company makes “requested improvements.”

Boeing requested that the FAA renew its Organization Designation Authorization program (ODA) for three years, rather than for five.

Boeing has not yet commented.

Boeing has been given certain tasks by the FAA under a long-standing programme. Tuesday’s statement from the FAA said that the FAA would verify that Boeing made the necessary improvements, including that the employees could “act independently of company officials” during the three-year-long period.

A U.S. Senate report in December stated that the FAA should do a better job of overseeing Boeing’s certification and new aircrafts. It also needed to review whistleblower allegations.

Dec 2020: Congress approved major reforms to improve how the FAA certifies new planes. This was after the tragic 737 MAX crash that killed 346 and resulted in the plane being grounded for 20 months.

“FAA’s oversight of the certification process has eroded,” the report found, saying the agency “over time, increasingly delegated away its authority” to Boeing and others.

Late last year, Steve Dickson, then Administrator of the FAA, told Congress that Boeing was being delegated fewer tasks.

According to the FAA Tuesday, the FAA stated that Tuesday’s shorter renewal was partly due to “a variety of items that must have tracked and completed within that timeframe.” FAA said in a letter that it anticipates that the next three years will provide enough time to complete these improvements.

FAA “will monitor timely corrective actions and updates to the Boeing ODA Procedures Manual as well self-audits. It will also ensure that the Boeing Safety Management System is effectively implemented.”

The FAA is continuing to inspect all Boeing 737 MAXs in order to verify their airworthiness. Once Boeing has addressed quality problems, all 787 Dreamliners will be inspected by the FAA.

The FAA acting chief that supervises Boeing informed the company in November that not all FAA employees had the necessary expertise, and that they were not performing to FAA requirements.