Boeing expects its embattled 737 Max will return to the skies by the end of 2019 as its bottom line continues to take a hit from the fleet’s continued grounding.
The company said in its latest financial results, once federal regulators approve the 737 Max’s return to service Boeing will begin ramping up its production rate for the jets from 42 planes per month to 57 per month by late 2020. The Chicago-based aerospace giant cut production of the planes in April.
“Our top priority remains the safe return to service of the 737 Max, and we’re making steady progress,” Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement.
U.S. airlines have extended flight cancellations of the 737 Max into January as the grounding moved into its seventh month. But whether carriers will have to alter that timeline again depends on whether Boeing receives the green light from federal and global regulators.
The Federal Aviation Administration, following its global counterparts, ordered the grounding of Boeing’s fleet of 737 Max planes in mid-March after two fatal crashes killed all 346 passengers.
Implicated in the incidents was the jet’s anti-stall system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System. The software was found to have fed the plane’s computer system inaccurate data on its angle of attack, which led to a struggle between the system and the pilot.
Boeing set about working on a software patch for the system, which was completed in May, but the FAA has yet to recertify the planes and end the grounding.
The controversy surrounding the 737 Max has roiled Boeing, and the aerospace giant reported Thursday its revenue dropped to about $20 billion in the third quarter, a 21% decrease from 2018. Production costs for 737 planes rose by nearly $1 billion amid the grounding.
Muilenburg was stripped last week of his role as chairman of Boeing’s board, and he will testify before Congress on the 737 Max next week.
Kevin McAllister, who was head of Boeing’s commercial planes division which oversaw the 737 Max, resigned this week.
