Boeing announced late April 5 it will slow 737 MAX production from 52 to 42 aircraft a month by mid-April, indicating that the type’s grounding and delivery halt will last longer than initially expected.

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA)—which had planned to take delivery of three Boeing 737 MAX 8s beginning in mid-April—will adjust its summer schedule as deliveries of the type are postponed until the US manufacturer’s flight-control software upgrade is certified and the grounding is lifted.

Aircraft Briefs-April 4, 2019

Qantas plans to increase capacity on its freighter operations by replacing two leased Boeing 747-400Fs with 747-8Fs.

An interim report into the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash said the flight crew followed proper procedures in response to uncommanded nose-down inputs, but they could not keep the aircraft from descending into the ground, Ethiopia's top transport official said April 4.