Boeing 737 MAX certification flight test expected soon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A key step to the return to service of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX could take place as soon as early next week, two people briefed on the matter said.

Boeing Co’s best-selling plane has been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes killed 346 people. A certification flight test, which is expected to last at least two days, is likely to take place starting early next week but has not yet been finalized. The Federal Aviation Administration would then need to approve pilot training and complete other steps and would not likely approve plane’s ungrounding until September, the sources said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)