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Boeing temporarily halts 737 Max production

Boeing 737 MAX crisis entered a new phase Monday following when the manufacturer said they will temporarily halt production of the model.

“As a result of continuous evaluation, we have decided to prioritize the delivery of stored aircraft and temporarily suspend production of the 737 starting next month,” Boeing said.

The affected employees will continue working on tasks related to the 737, “or they will be temporarily assigned to other teams,” to avoid layoffs. The suspension of the 737 MAX production will help alleviate the storage congestion problem raised in April when most of the world’s aviation authorities banned the flight of the aircraft over its territory.

One of the last to do so was the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), which only decreed it after a direct intervention by the country’s president, Donald Trump. The FAA’s performance has been tremendously criticized, as the agency was accused of being excessively benevolent with Boeing in the certification processes.

The controversy grew last week when the FAA admitted that, although it knew that the MAX had problems. Still, it authorized the plane to enter service anyways. Until now, the FAA, due to its prestige, had been a kind of global regulator. If the FAA certified an airplane, other regulators in the world immediately approved it as well.

Now, the MAX crisis has damaged not only Boeing’s reputation but also that of the FAA. The possibility of cessation in the manufacture of MAX – the news was released after the market closed – caused a fall in the company’s stock price. Another problem for Boeing is the legal processes derived from the two accidents suffered by the MAX and the possible complaints of the airlines.

Boeing has delivered 800 737’s to date.