Boeing flight plans hit turbulence on US regulator's expansion curbs

Boeing faces a major commercial setback after the US Federal Aviation Administration froze planned production increases for its 737 Max aircraft, a move that interrupts the planemaker's growth ambitions at a time of surging demand and intensifying competition with Airbus SE.

The regulator said late on Wednesday that it wouldn't allow any further output increases of Boeing's most important model. At the same time, it approved the inspection procedures that airlines must carry out in order for the 737 Max 9 to resume flights.

The largest Max variant was grounded earlier this month after one operated by Alaska Airlines was involved in a near-calamity.


The FAA intervention leaves Boeing unable to boost output of its cash-cow jetliners for the foreseeable future, in a blow to chief executive officer Dave Calhoun, who relies on the Max to prop up the company's finances and work through an order book that stretches out several years.