With a federal safety review ongoing, Boeing has decided to suspend production of the troubled 737 MAX passenger jet, having made over 400 that it can’t deliver until the ban is lifted – if ever. Workers will remain safe, for now.
Production at the Renton, Washington facility near Seattle will be suspended in January, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday citing sources familiar with the matter. The 12,000 workers affected will not be fired or furloughed, according to the same report. It is unclear how long the suspension will last.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all 737 MAX models in March, grudgingly following the lead of as countries around the world after the fatal crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 killed 157 people. Five months earlier, a 737 MAX of Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed in the same manner, killing 189 passengers and crew.
Since then, almost 400 MAX jets have been stuck on the ground, and Boeing has manufactured 400 more, which it cannot deliver to customers anywhere. The FAA review is still ongoing, amid a number of revelations suggesting that flaws with the MAX’s control software were long known to the company and its test pilots.
