Boeing suspends production of troubled 737 MAX jetliner

The nightmare year for Boeing continues, as the aircraft manufacturer announces it will now suspend production of the MAX jetliner.

Boeing’s nightmare year has just got worse, with the aircraft manufacturer announcing that it will temporarily stop producing its grounded 737 MAX jet starting in January as it struggles to gain approval from regulators to put the plane back in the air.

The Chicago-based company said production would halt at its plant with 12,000 employees in Renton, Washington, near Seattle.

Boeing has made the decision of temporarily halting production of its troubled 737 MAX jetliner. Picture: Jason Redmond / AFP.

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Boeing said it didn’t expect any lay-offs as a result of the production halt “at this time”.

The shutdown also is likely to ripple through Boeing’s vast network of 900 companies that make engines, bodies and other parts for the 737, and lay-offs are likely.

The MAX 8 aircraft has been grounded globally since March following a horror crash killing 150 people. Picture: Michael TEWELDE / AFP.

The MAX is Boeing’s most important and fastest-selling jet in Boeing’s history, with about 5,000 orders from more than 100 customers worldwide. But it has been grounded since March after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed total 346 people. Federal regulators told the company last week that it had unrealistic expectations for getting the plane back into service.

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The MAX is Boeing’s most important jet, but it has been grounded since March. Picture: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File.

In a statement, Boeing said it would determine later when production could resume, based largely on approval from government regulators.

“We believe this decision is least disruptive to maintaining long-term production system and supply chain health,” the statement said.

Boeing’s stock has fallen 23 per cent since the March 10 crash of a MAX flown by Ethiopian Airlines. Picture: TONY KARUMBA / AFP.

The company’s stock came under pressure on Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported on the possibility of a MAX production halt.

Through October of this year, the US aerospace industry’s output has fallen 17 per cent compared with the same period last year to $US106.4 billion ($A154.8 billion), in part due to previous 737 MAX production cuts. It closed down $14.67 or 4.3 per cent, at $327.

The Boeing MAX have been grounded since March 2019. Picture: Mark Ralston / AFP

The stock slipped another 1 per cent in after-hours trading following the company’s announcement of the production halt. It has fallen 23 per cent since the March 10 crash of a MAX flown by Ethiopian Airlines.