Boeing expects 737 Max to fly again at the earliest this summer

Boeing has informed customers and suppliers that it expects the 737 Max to no longer be grounded from the middle of this year. If that comes true, the plagued passenger plane will have been grounded for almost a year and a half.

Boeing states that this expectation is based on the experience with the certification process. Ultimately, the American regulator FAA and other regulators will determine whether Boeing’s solutions are sufficient and when the 737 Max will receive the green light to fly again. In a statement, the FAA said it has not yet set a date for approval for the device, CNBC writes. Boeing recently found another bug in the software of the 737 Max, but it is unclear whether this finding has to do with the expectation that the plane will no longer fly before the summer.

The American aircraft manufacturer recently confirmed that it has temporarily stopped production of the 737 Max aircraft, CNN reports. It is not clear when the production line at the plant in Renton in the US state of Washington will start again. Boeing says it will not lay off people during this production shutdown.

The 737 Max is grounded due to two fatal crashes. In October 2018, a plane crashed in Indonesia and in March 2019 a 737 Max crashed into the ground in Ethiopia. A total of 346 people were killed. The manufacturer acknowledged that the MCAS anti-slip system played a role in this. After an angle of attack sensor transmitted incorrect data, the system thought that a stall situation was imminent, after which the nose was pushed down. The system only received data from a single sensor and the pilots turned out to be insufficiently trained to fly the new 737 Max type.