FAA tells US airlines it could approve MAX return to service before mid-year

Federal Aviation Administrator Steve Dickson called senior US airline officials on Friday and told them the agency could approve the grounded Boeing 737 MAX’s return to service before mid-year - a faster time frame than the planemaker suggested this week, people briefed on the calls said.

Dickson’s calls came as the FAA issued a statement on Friday voicing progress on the 737 MAX, in a shifting tone that helped push the planemaker’s shares higher even as concerns grew that it may cut production of another aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner.

“While the FAA continues to follow a thorough, deliberate process, the agency is pleased with Boeing’s progress in recent weeks towards achieving key milestones,” the agency said in a statement.

A person briefed on one of Dickson’s calls with the airlines said he told officials the Boeing mid-year timeline is “very conservative.”