Boeing’s 737 MAX can be phased back into service by regulators

NEW YORK: Boeing´s 737 MAX could be brought back into service gradually by government regulators but is still on track to be cleared to fly again in 2019, the company´s CEO said Wednesday.

The aircraft was been grounded in mid-March following two deadly crashes but could return to the air on a staggered schedule in different countries. Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said the company is still working through a number of questions with the US Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators but that "all of that work supports our timeline for an early fourth quarter return to service." "A phased ungrounding is a possibility," he said at an investor conference in California.

The company is addressing questions from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, which has expressed concerns about a malfunction of the "angle of attack" sensor which triggered an anti-stall system linked to the deadly crashes of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines planes. "I wouldn´t see those as divisive," Muilenburg said of the EASA queries. "I just think those are questions that we need to answer as part of the process."