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By Doug Cameron



Boeing Co. will cut production of its 737 MAX by almost a fifth over the next several weeks and has appointed a special board committee to examine its handling of new-airplane development.



Boeing said Friday that by mid-April it will trim monthly output of its best-selling jet by 10 to 42. The move overrides Boeing's previous plan to boost monthly output of its best-selling plane to 57 by this summer. Analysts had expected that higher production to allow Boeing to make almost 600 deliveries of the 737 this year, 90% of them the MAX model.



Boeing's move comes four weeks after the fatal crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX, the second in five months involving the jetliner, triggering probes by regulators. While Boeing is proposing a software fix and additional pilot training to address a flight-control problem implicated in both crashes, a return to flight and resumption of deliveries is expected to be months rather than weeks away, analysts have said.



Boeing on Friday didn't update financial guidance ahead of its next quarterly earnings report scheduled for April 24.



"We're adjusting the 737 production system temporarily to accommodate the pause in MAX deliveries, allowing us to prioritize additional resources to focus on software certification and returning the MAX to flight," Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement.



Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com







