New York (AFP)

Boeing has not finished suffering from the setbacks of its 737 MAX: the American aircraft manufacturer announced Wednesday a quarterly net loss of nearly $ 3 billion, the largest in more than a century of existence.

The Chicago group could also "temporarily" stop producing the MAX in the event of a prolonged downtime on the ground, chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said in a conference call.

"There is uncertainty around the return to service schedule (...) and even if it's something we do not want to do (...) we have to prepare for this hypothesis", justified the leader .

The MAX, grounded for more than four months after two accidents causing 346 deaths, is produced in Renton (north-west) on a site employing 12,000 full-time staff, following a three-eight work organization.

This industrial accident has precipitated the red accounts in the second quarter, because of a colossal charge of 5.6 billion to compensate airlines, who have canceled thousands of flights.

The aircraft manufacturer had gained $ 2.2 billion in the second quarter of 2018 and, so far, its largest loss was $ 1.6 billion, recorded in the third quarter of 2009.

The loss announced is not a real surprise because the group of Chicago had warned last week that it would register this exceptional load. On the other hand, it does not include the possible compensation for the families of the victims, who have already lodged a complaint, nor the possible fines of the American authorities, who are investigating the development of the 737 MAX.

- Blur on the return flight -

Quarterly sales plunged by 35% to $ 15.75 billion, due to the suspension of deliveries of the 737 MAX, the effect of which is beginning to be felt in the US economy. an impact on durable goods orders and investments in particular.

"The saga of the 737 MAX will probably continue to affect business investment," said Gregory Daco, an economist at Oxford Economics, interviewed by NPR radio.

The lack of visibility on the return to the sky of the MAX was down the action of nearly 2% on Wall Street around 15:30 GMT.

In view of "this uncertainty," Boeing did not give annual financial targets on Wednesday, saying it will do so at a later date. In April, the company had already suspended its forecasts.

"If our estimate of the return to service (of the MAX) were to change, we could look at reductions in additional production rates and other options, including a temporary shutdown of production," Muilenburg said.

Boeing said last week, anticipating a lifting of the flight ban at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but Wednesday was more cautious, saying it was up to the air regulators to set the date.

"This is the FAA (Federal Aviation Agency) and other global air regulators who will determine when the 737 MAX returns to service," said Dennis Muilenburg. "We are working tirelessly to meet their requirements," he added.

Major air regulators around the globe have indicated that they will review Boeing's own modifications themselves and will not rely solely on the US authorities' assessment.

In April, the aircraft manufacturer reduced production rates of the MAX from 52 to 42 aircraft per month, but announced Thursday it plans to increase to 57 units per month in 2020.

Boeing also said that it is testing the MAX's MCAS anti-stall system patch, which was involved in both the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air accidents, and will submit it "once all the certification requirements have been met. from the FAA ".

Southwest, American Airlines and United Airlines, the three major airlines with MAX in their fleet, canceled their flights on the plane until early November.

The rating agencies Moody's and Fitch have already warned that they could lower the credit rating of the group if the ban on theft spanned until 2020.

Another blow: Boeing had to postpone the first test flight of its 777X long haul at the beginning of 2020, due to problems with testing the new GE9X engine from General Electric.

The first deliveries risk, according to industrial sources at AFP, not to intervene before 2021, instead of 2020 as the aircraft manufacturer hopes.

© 2019 AFP