By David Shepardson
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Federal Aviation Administrator Steve Dickson has referred to as senior U.S. airline officers Friday and informed them that the company may approve the grounded Boeing 737 MAX’s return to service earlier than mid-year, individuals briefed on the calls stated Friday.
Dickson’s calls come days after Boeing stated it was pushing again its timeline for approval of the airplane’s return and “at the moment estimating that the ungrounding of the 737 MAX will start throughout mid-2020.”
An individual briefed on one in every of Dickson’s calls with the airways stated he informed officers the Boeing mid-year timeline is “very conservative.”
Boeing’s best-selling airplane has been grounded since March after two deadly crashes killed 346 individuals.
The company confirmed in an announcement Friday that Dickson is making calls “to reiterate that the FAA has set no timeframe for completion of certification work on the plane.” The company added it’s…