The fleet of jets has been grounded since March.
Boeing board members are meeting Monday as reports swirl that the company is considering suspending or shutting down production of its 737 Max jets, which have been grounded for almost nine months.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Sunday that the company could possibly end production of the beleaguered fleet of jets, sending shares of Boeing to tumble nearly 4% on Monday.
Governments and airlines around the world have grounded 737 Max aircraft since March after two crashes occurred within six months of each other — in October 2018 and March 2019 — that killed a total of 346 people.
In November, the Federal Aviation Administration signaled the fleet may not be returning to the skies anytime soon.
“The agency will not approve the aircraft for return to service until it has completed numerous rounds of rigorous testing,” the agency said in a statement. “The FAA will take all the time it needs to ensure the aircraft is safe.”
The crashes and subsequent groundings have been costly for Boeing and spurred a slew of lawsuits.
The Southwest Airlines’ pilots union filed a lawsuit against the company in October for $100 million over lost wages after the Max jet troubles forced the grounding of more than 30,000 Southwest flights.
Boeing also reached an undisclosed, partial settlement from a separate lawsuit from Southwest Airlines, the largest U.S. operator of the Max jets, The Associated Press reported.
Boeing also announced a $100 million fund for families of victims who died in the crashes, and in September began giving out $144,000 per family of each victim of the crash. Families don’t have to waive their right to sue Boeing in order to be eligible to receive the funds.
Boeing told told ABC News in a statement that it will “continue to work closely with the FAA and global regulators towards certification and the safe return to service of the MAX.”
“We will continue to assess production decisions based on the timing and conditions of return to service, which will be based on regulatory approvals and may vary by jurisdiction,” the statement added.
