Boeing 737 MAX software update expected within weeks amid aircraft ban

SEATTLE – Boeing Co said on Friday its software upgrade for the grounded 737 MAX jetliner will be rolled out in the coming weeks, and that its timeline for deploying the upgrade has not changed.

Boeing has been working on a software upgrade for an anti-stall system and pilot displays on its fastest-selling jetliner in the wake of the deadly Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October. Similarities between the flight path in the Lion Air incident and Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash have raised fresh questions about the system.

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Boeing said on Monday it has been working closely with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on development, planning and certification of the software upgrade, and it will be deployed across the 737 MAX fleet in the coming weeks.

The FAA expects to approve these design changes no later than April 2019, it has said.

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Boeing shares rose as much as 1.5 per cent in midday trading, reversing course from losses of about 1.5 per cent earlier in the session.

WATCH: Ethiopia Airlines crash: Boeing rushes software update, victim identification could take months. Jeff Semple reports from Addis Ababa. 

1:44 Ethiopia Airlines crash: Boeing rushes software update, victim identification could take months

— Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle Editing by Bill Rigby