Max’s 2020 return

Fixing the Boeing 737 MAX’s flight-control software and completing other steps to start carrying passengers is likely to stretch into 2020, an increasing number of government and industry officials say, even as the company strives to get its jet back into service this year.

The situation remains fluid, no firm timeline has been established, and Boeing still has to satisfy US regulators that it has answered all outstanding safety questions. But under the latest scenario, the global MAX fleet is now anticipated to return to the air in January 2020, a full 12 months after the plane-maker proposed its initial replacement of software eventually implicated in a pair of fatal crashes, according to some insiders.

Carriers have given up on flying their MAX planes until late this year. American Airlines Group said Sunday that it would keep the plane off its schedules through Nov. 2, two months beyond its previous target of an early September return.

It’s the fifth time American has pushed off MAX flying since it first had to call off flights when regulators grounded the plane in March. United Airlines announced a similar move on Friday, but FAA officials and others tracking the issue said there’s no assurance the November date will hold.

The FAA has said it is following a thorough process that has no timetable, with agency leaders vowing to resolve all safety issues before allowing the planes back in the air.