With the huge downturn in aviation in 2020 due to COVID-19, Boeing executives will be praying for an early vaccine and early re-certification of its 737 MAX by regulators.

“This is a crucial time for Boeing,” Calhoun said. “I see greatness in this company, but I also see opportunities to be better. Much better.”

The announcement came days after a congressional hearing, at which lawmakers urged the FAA to take a harder line with Boeing.

The Federal Aviation Administration has spent months reviewing Boeing's proposed software upgrades to a key safety system and other training and system changes but is not expected to allow the plane to return to service until December at the earliest.

Boeing has redesigned the system to rely on more than one sensor and help reduce pilot workload as it strives to return the model to the air.

Boeing issued a statement Friday saying it was working to address all of the safety recommendations to prevent similar flight control problems from recurring.

In an interview with Global News' Jackson Proskow shortly after testifying at a hearing before the U.S. House subcommittee on aviation, Paul Njoroge called Boeing's announcement a "total gaffe."

Ethiopian Airlines insists the carrier’s pilots went through all the extra training required by Boeing and the FAA to fly the 737 MAX 8 jet.

The Calgary-based airline says it won't follow the lead of Indonesia's flag carrier, which cancelled its multibillion-dollar order for 49 MAX 8 jets, citing a loss of confidence after two deadly crashes in the past six months.

The pilots of a doomed Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX scoured a handbook as they struggled to understand why the jet was lurching downwards, but ran out of time before it hit the water, three people with knowledge of the cockpit voice recorder contents said.