Boeing says timing of 737 Max return in hands of regulators

Boeing moved Saturday to ease tensions with regulators over the return to service of its 737 MAX, saying it was up to the US FAA and its global counterparts to approve changes to the jet in the wake of two accidents. The FAA told its staff this week to take whatever time was needed to review the grounded plane after Boeing said it expected the FAA to certify the 737 MAX in mid-December. "We put some targets out that still line up to December...type certification," Stan Deal, CE of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said. "The FAA has said they are not going to put a time frame on it and we are going to track behind them on this," he added. US officials privately said this week that Boeing's timetable was aggressive -- if not unrealistic -- and was not cleared in advance by regulators. <br/>