WASHINGTON — Boeing's troubled 737 Max airplanes won't be cleared for flight until 2020 at the earliest, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday.
FAA chief Steve Dickson told CNBC there are still "about 10 or 11 milestones left to complete" as part of the process to get the planes re-certified.
"If you just do the math, it's going to extend into 2020," Dickson explained.
The Max has been grounded internationally since March after two crashes that killed 346 people. The company is still working on fixes to the jet.
On Wednesday, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on FAA oversight of the Boeing 737 Max certification.
The panel's chairman, Peter DeFazio, says he plans to ask about Boeing's influence over the FAA's Seattle office and incidents in which FAA managers vetoed the concerns of the agency's own safety experts. Relatives of passengers who died in the crashes have their own questions for the regulator.
Southwest, American and United have already cancelled impacted flights into early March.
Dickson added that his team is currently working to review the plane's software and there is no clear timeline on when the 737 Max will be re-certified.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
