IATA: Boeing 737 MAX to remain out of service until August

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects it could take until August before the Boeing Co 737 MAX returns to service, the airline group's head said on Wednesday, adding that the final say on the timing rested with regulators.

Boeing is under huge pressure to satisfy regulators and airlines that the 737 Max plane is safe after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, which killed all 157 people on board.

Investigators have said there are “clear similarities” between that flight and another Max crash in Indonesia in October that killed all 189 on board.

Alexandre de Juniac, the director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said at an event in South Korea Wednesday that the 737 Max wouldn’t fly until August at the earliest, according to several media reports.

IATA plans to organise a summit with airlines, regulators and the manufacturer in 5 to 7 weeks to discuss what is needed for the 737 MAX to return to service, he said. At an IATA meeting in Montreal last week, airline members said they wanted regulators to cooperate closely on the decision for the plane's re-entry to service, de Juniac said.

"We hope that they will align their timeframe," he said of regulators.

Crash investigators are working on a theory that the jet’s flight control system, which automatically pushes the plane’s nose down to prevent a stall, was responsible for the fatalities in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

On May 16, Boeing said it had completed a software update for its 737 Max planes and was working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to get the plane back in the air.

For its part, the FAA has so far refused to commit to any date for the Max jet to return to service.

U.S. carriers Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines have all removed the Max from their summer flight schedules.

Boeing Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg is set to speak at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York City on Wednesday.