FAA halts Boeing 737 Max aircraft production expansion plan

On Wednesday local time, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) suspended Boeing Co.'s plans to expand production of the 737 Max aircraft to improve quality control and establish extensive inspection and maintenance procedures to allow the 737 Max 9 aircraft to return to service. This comes nearly three weeks after a door fell off an Alaska Airlines Max9 aircraft.

The FAA said it has approved inspection instructions for the Max9 aircraft. Airlines have been waiting for this approval to assess their fleets in order to return these aircraft to service.

After the Alaska Airlines crash on January 5, the FAA ordered the grounding of 737 Max 9 aircraft, forcing United Airlines and Alaska Airlines to cancel hundreds of flights.

The CEOs of United Airlines and Alaska Airlines expressed frustration with Boeing after the incident, the most serious in a recent series of apparent manufacturing flaws in Boeing aircraft.