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Boeing Company said it plans to cut its monthly 737 aircraft production by nearly 20 per cent in the wake of two deadly crashes, signalling it does not expect aviation authorities to allow the plane back in the air anytime soon.
Deliveries of Boeing’s best-selling aircraft were frozen after a global grounding of the narrowbody model following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet on March 10, killing all 157 people onboard.
Production will be cut to 42 aeroplanes per month from 52 starting mid-April, the company said in a statement, without giving an end-date. US and airline officials said they now believe the plane could be grounded for at least two months, but an even longer grounding is a serious possibility.
SEE ALSO :As Boeing reels from crashes, Airbus mum about sales gains
The crash in Ethiopia and the crash of a Lion Air plane in Indonesia last October that killed all 189 people on board have left the world’s largest planemaker in crisis.
Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg said the company now knows that a chain of events caused both disasters, with erroneous activation of so-called MCAS anti-stall software “a common link” between the two.
Boeing said it would not reduce jobs at the new production rate but will work to minimise the financial impact.
The company’s board will establish a committee to review how Boeing designs and develops aeroplanes, Muilenburg said.
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