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Southwest Airlines reported fourth quarter and full 2019 earnings following a tumultuous year without its flagship plane, the Boeing 737 Max. The airline is the biggest customer of the 737 Max, and was supposed to have 75 by the end of 2019. Although profits and capacity fell, and headwinds look poised to continue well into 2020, there were still a few bright points, including...

Boeing announced on Monday that it will temporarily suspend production of the 737 Max, as the plane remains grounded into 2020. The company said the 12,000 employees at its Renton, WA factory, where the Max is built, would not face layoffs or furloughs "at this time," and would be reassigned to other tasks. However, almost 600 suppliers manufacture components for the plane. Those companies,...

FAA head Steve Dickson is testifying before a House transportation committee hearing about the Boeing 737 Max on Wednesday. A former Boeing employee turned whistleblower, Edward Pierson, is also scheduled to appear at Wednesday's hearing, along with others. We'll be updating this story throughout the hearing — refresh this page for updates. Sign up for Business Insider's transportation newsletter, Shifting Gears, to get more...

Boeing's chief engineer overseeing commercial airplanes including the 737 Max is retiring, according to the Seattle Times. John Hamilton has been heading up Boeing's response to the two fatal 737 Max crashes. Boeing said that he initially planned to retire last year. Hamilton testified alongside CEO Dennis Muilenburg in front of two Congressional panels last month. Sign up for Business Insider's transportation newsletter, Shifting Gears,...

The FAA plans to keep full control of certifying individual new Boeing 737 Max planes as they roll off the production line, the regulator said Tuesday. Normally, once the plane type is certified by the regulator, the plane maker is responsible for ensuring that individual units conform to regulatory requirements. Airlines also typically conduct inspections when taking delivery of new planes. Boeing's plan to...

A near-crash during a flight-simulator session in June led to a complete redesign of the Boeing 737 Max's flight computer architecture, according to a new Bloomberg report. That redesign is in addition to the software fix to an automated system that caused two fatal crashes. It has led to extensive delays getting the plane back into commercial service. The flight computer in the 737...