FAA has no timeline for lifting grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max

US aviation regulators have no timeline for returning Boeing’s grounded 737 Max to service and won’t act until they are sure it is safe, the nation’s top transportation official said Thursday. The FAA has to be assured that a fix being developed by Boeing in the wake of two fatal crashes will prevent any future accidents, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a speech in Washington. “The FAA will lift the aircraft’s prohibition order when it is deemed safe to do so,” Chao said. “That is the bottom line: There is no timeline.” Chao was speaking before the Air Line Pilots Association’s Air Safety Forum. ALPA is the largest pilot’s union in North America. FAA is also developing new training requirements for pilots on the 737 Max, Chao said. A technical advisory board including experts from NASA and the Air Force is also weighing in on the decision, Chao said. Her comments mirror what FAA acting Administrator Daniel Elwell has been saying in recent months. The attempt to adapt the software on the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, which has been identified as a factor in crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, has been slower than was initially predicted.<br/>