U.S. Grounds 737 MAX 8, Boeing Agrees With Decision

RENTON, WA - The United States will ground all Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 model planes following other nations including the UK, Canada, and China. The grounding follows an Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday that killed 157 people.

The Renton-made 737 MAX 8 grounding will come in the form of an emergency order on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said.

According to the FAA, there are 74 Boeing 737 MAX planes registered to U.S. airlines. American Airlines and Southwest are the only two airlines that fly the Boeing 737 Max 8 models, according to The New York Times.

Up until Wednesday morning, the FAA and U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao insisted the MAX 8s were safe to fly. The Ethiopian Airlines crash was second involving a MAX 8 since October, when a Ryan Air jet crashed in Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.

Boeing released a statement Wednesday saying it agrees with the grounding.

Boeing continues to have full confidence in the safety of the 737 MAX. However, after consultation with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and aviation authorities and its customers around the world, Boeing has determined -- out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft’s safety -- to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of the entire global fleet of 371 737 MAX aircraft.