CHICAGO: Boeing Co said it plans to cut its monthly 737 aircraft production by nearly 20 percent in the wake of two deadly crashes, signaling 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 airplanes per month from 52 starting mid-April, the company said in a statement, without giving an end-date.
U.S. 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.
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.
(Agencies)
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