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Boeing suspends production of 737 Max model after two crashes

WION Web Team
New Delhi Updated: Dec 17, 2019, 12:06 PM IST
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File photo: Grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are seen parked in an aerial photo at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, US. Photograph:(Reuters)

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Boeing's shares closed down 4% on Monday and fell 1% after hours. 

Boeing Co has temporarily halted production of its grounded 737 Max for the first time in more than 20 years.

Boeing made the announcement as the planemaker's best-selling MAX involved in two fatal crashes, reports said. 

Boeing, which builds the 737 south of Seattle, said it will not lay off any employees during the production freeze, though the move could have repercussions across its global supply chain and the US economy.

Watch: Boeing halts 737 max production after 20 years

The decision, made by Boeing's board after a two-day meeting in Chicago, follows news last week that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would not approve the plane's return to service before 2020, the report added.

The 737 MAX has been grounded since March after two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people within five months, costing the plane manufacturer more than $9 billion so far.

Until now Boeing has continued to produce 737 MAX jets at a rate of 42 per month and purchase parts from suppliers at a rate of up to 52 units per month, even though deliveries are frozen until regulators approve the aircraft to fly commercially again.

Boeing's shares closed down 4% on Monday and fell 1% after hours.