FAA’s grounding of 737 Max jets forces Boeing to take billions in loans: report

Boeing has taken $6 billion in loans and is in talks to secure a total of $10 billion or more due to lost revenue from the grounding of its 737 Max aircraft. 

CNBC reported Monday that officials familiar with the company’s finances say that the it is in talks with banks including Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan to secure a loan of $10 billion or more and had already accepted $6 billion.

The company has paid $5.6 billion in compensation to various airlines which were forced to ground all 737 Max jets in their fleets following two deadly crashes involving the model within a 6-month period that killed hundreds of people.

Boeing has reportedly halted production on the planes and agreed to allow pilots to undergo simulator training before the jets return to service, a time-consuming process that is expected to further delay the their return to service. Boeing officials originally hoped that the 737 Max fleets would return to commercial service last year.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and all other major flight authorities around the world moved to ground the planes after the two crashes, and Boeing has since faced questions from federal regulators over how much the company knew of issues thought to have caused the crashes before they occurred.

Company employees were revealed earlier this month to have discussed hiding issues from FAA regulators in internal communications, while expressing concern about the 737 Max’s safety.

“I still haven’t been forgiven by God for the covering up I did last year,” one employee said in a newly revealed message sent in 2018.

Boeing told Congress in a statement that the messages “contain provocative language, and, in certain instances, raise questions about Boeing’s interactions with the FAA in connection with the simulator qualification process,” but added that it is “confident that all of Boeing’s Max simulators are functioning effectively.”