Boeing may halt 737 MAX production if flying ban continues

Boeing warned it will consider slowing or even temporarily halting production of the 737 MAX, the company’s most important jetliner, if a global flying ban drags on longer than anticipated.

The planemaker’s best estimate is that it will submit software updates and paperwork for the MAX by September to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), followed weeks later by approval to resume passenger flights, Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg said on Wednesday. But he cautioned that Boeing can’t foot the costs of building and storing undelivered aircraft indefinitely.

The 737 MAX is already more than four months into an unprecedented global grounding, which authorities ordered after two fatal crashes.