Boeing suspends production of troubled 737 MAX jetliner

Boeing has taken the remarkable step of temporarily halting production of its troubled 737 MAX jetliner in a move that will send shockwaves through the aviation industry.
The 737 MAX has been grounded by aviation authorities around the world since March because of two fatal crashes that killed all 346 people aboard the flights. Those crashes have been tied to an automatic safety system on the plane. News of the suspension in production, starting January, may cause industry job losses and send the US economy into turbulence, according to The Wall Street Journal who broke the story, citing two inside sources. Boeing has continued to roll 737 MAX's off the production line despite the worldwide grounding in March. Boeing has a backlog of up to 400 737 MAX jets. Shares in Boeing, America's largest manufacturing exporter, closed on Wall Street today at USD $327. In March, shares were trading at $440, just before the 737 was grounded.
Boeing has continued to build about 42 of the jets each month, even though it can't deliver them to customers during the grounding. The deliveries are important to Boeing, because it collects most of the money from a sale when a plane is delivered to an airline. It has taken much longer than Boeing expected to update the Max's flight software and computers and put together a pilot-training course. In a statement today Boeing said no layoffs were expected at this time. "Safely returning the 737 MAX to service is our top priority," the statement said. Boeing acknowledged the backlog of 400 jets and said those planes were now the focus, while regulators work with the company in an effort to safely certify the 737 MAX. "We have decided to prioritise the delivery of stored aircraft and temporarily suspend production on the 737 program beginning next month," it said. The 737 Max was grounded in March after two fatal crashes - a Lion Air jet that plunged into the Java Sea in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines plane downed near Addis Ababa in March — killed 346 people.  But getting the plane back in the air has proven immensely difficult, causing major financial and reputational issues for Boeing.

Full story sourced from here
https://www.9news.com.au/world/boeing-temporarily-stops-production-of-737-max-jetliner-may-cause-job-losses/c1491afc-925f-4054-888d-42b59258a467