Boeing halts shares trading after stock plunges by almost 6 percent

Airline stocks were under additional pressure Tuesday after news that the mysterious coronavirus had claimed six lives and spread to Washington state.

Jan. 21, 2020, 1:49 PM EST
By Lucy Bayly

Boeing stock trading was temporarily halted Tuesday after shares fell by almost 6 percent on reports that regulators plan to keep the company's fleet of troubled 737 Max airplanes grounded until July, far longer than originally planned. The planes have been grounded since March last year, after two crashes killed a total of 346 people.

The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement shortly afterwards, confirming the news, and trading reopened.

“The agency is following a thorough, deliberate process to verify that all proposed modifications to the Boeing 737 Max meet the highest certification standards,” the FAA said. “We have set no time frame for when the work will be completed.”

Boeing issued its own statement, saying, "We are informing our customers and suppliers that we are currently estimating that the ungrounding of the 737 Max will begin during mid-2020. Returning the Max safely to service is our number one priority, and we are confident that will happen. We acknowledge and regret the continued difficulties that the grounding of the 737 Max has presented to our customers, our regulators, our suppliers, and the flying public."

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