WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - The acting head of the

Federal Aviation Administration said he is not currently

considering lifting a production cap of 38 planes per month on

Boeing's ( BA ) 737 MAX imposed after a January 2024 mid-air emergency

involving a new Alaska Airlines Boeing plane missing

four key bolts.

"Not at this time," Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau

told reporters after a U.S. House hearing. He also said he was

not discussing a change to the agency's policy of inspecting all

Boeing 737 MAXs and 787 Dreamliners before issuing

airworthiness certificates for individual planes, rather than

delegating those tasks to Boeing ( BA ).

Boeing ( BA ) did not immediately comment.

The FAA last week - in a decision first reported by Reuters

- extended by three years a program that allows Boeing ( BA ) to

perform some tasks on the agency's behalf like inspections,

saying the planemaker had made improvements.

Boeing ( BA ) CEO Kelly Ortberg said last week the planemaker is

"pretty confident" that it can increase production of its

best-selling 737 MAX jets to 42 a month.

After the FAA approves Boeing ( BA ) increasing output to 42 a

month, "we do have subsequent rate increases in our plan," which

will typically be in increments of five aircraft a month and at

least six months apart, he said.

In May 2022, the agency agreed to renew Boeing's ( BA )

Organization Designation Authorization for three years rather

than the five Boeing ( BA ) had asked for to ensure the planemaker

implemented "required improvements."

Congress passed sweeping reforms in December 2020 on how

the FAA certifies new airplanes after two fatal 737 MAX crashes

killed 346 people and led to the plane's 20-month grounding.

The Office of Inspector General said FAA officials in

2023 sought to allow Boeing's ( BA ) ODA to resume issuing final

airworthiness certificates for 737 and 787s. Before FAA senior

officials could approve the request, the Alaska mid-air

emergency occurred.