SEATTLE (Reuters) -Boeing Co resumed deliveries of its best-selling 737 MAX on Wednesday, following approval of a fix for an electrical grounding issue that sidelined dozens of jets, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Reuters reported on April 16 that Boeing stopped delivering its cash cow single-aisle 737 MAX after the electrical grounding problem – months after the plane returned to service following a lengthy safety ban due to fatal crashes.
A Boeing spokeswoman declined to comment.
Boeing shares came off session lows but were down 1.6% on a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped.
Earlier this month, the U.S. planemaker won approval from U.S. regulators for a fix for the electrical grounding issue that had affected about 100 737 MAX airplanes.
That approval cleared the way for the jet’s quick return to service. Airlines had pulled dozens of 737 MAX jets from service in early April after Boeing warned of the electrical problem, linked to a backup power control unit in the cockpit on some recently built airplanes.
The problem was then found in two other places on the flight deck, including the storage rack where the control unit is kept and the instrument panel facing the pilots.
The 737 MAX was approved to return to service in November 2020 in the United States after being grounded for 20 months following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.
Reuters reported on May 4 that the FAA asked Boeing to supply fresh analysis showing numerous 737 MAX subsystems would not be affected by electrical grounding issues first flagged in three areas of the jet in April.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle;Editing by Alexandra Hudson, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and David Gregorio)
