Boeing doesn’t expect 737 MAX approval until at least this summer

The Boeing said it doesn’t expect re-certification of its 737 MAX until at least the middle of the year, adding several months to the return of the troubled jet than some industry observers had been targeting.

“We are informing our customers and suppliers that we are currently estimating that the ungrounding of the 737 MAX will begin during mid-2020,” the company said in a press release. “This updated estimate is informed by our experience to date with the certification process. It is subject to our ongoing attempts to address known schedule risks and further developments that may arise in connection with the certification process.”

The company reiterated it will be up to regulators such as the Federal Aviation Administration as to when the MAX will return.

The news sent shares of both Boeing and Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems Inc. tumbling in trading Tuesday afternoon.

After a brief halt to the trading of Boeing stock following initial reports of the outlook, shares were down 5.02 percent to $307.88 and had dropped as low as $305.76 during the day.

Shares of Spirit were down 4.09 percent to $64.55 and had dropped as low as $63.82 on Tuesday.

Spirit builds around 70 percent of the structure on the MAX, including the aircraft’s full fuselage.

The MAX has been grounded since last March following two crashes of the jet in five months.

Boeing announced plans in December, followed closely by Spirit, to temporarily halt production of the MAX beginning this month as it waits on re-certification of the plane.

Prior to the production freeze, which has begun triggering local aerospace layoffs, Spirit built the 737 at the rate of 52 aircraft per month throughout 2019.

That came despite Boeing’s own reduction to 42 per month after the grounding, part of a staggering production agreement designed to keep the linchpin supplier healthy in advance of rate increases.

With the grounding now expected to stretch well beyond a year, there will likely be a long wait for the restart of production and the eventual ramp back up in output on the 737 MAX.

Adding to that dynamic will be the nearly 400 MAX aircraft Boeing built during the grounding that must be delivered, as well as the roughly 100 completed fuselages Spirit built and is holding locally in inventory.

That is expected to make it several more years before Spirit returns to the production rate it was building at prior to the program halt.

Spirit is Wichita’s largest employer with 13,500 workers, a number that will drop below 11,000 after it completes its announced round of 2,800 layoffs in the coming weeks due to uncertainty surrounding the MAX. www.bizjournals.com