Boeing chief still sees mid-year return to service for 737 MAX

(Reuters) – Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said Tuesday the company still expects a “mid-year” return to service for the grounded 737 MAX and said the company needs to know credit markets remain open to the aerospace manufacturing sector.

“We’re very close to the finish line,” Calhoun told CNBC of the plane that has been grounded since two fatal crashes in five months. Boeing has sought $60 billion in U.S. government loans for itself and the aerospace industry. “There are a lot of options for us in the private markets etcetera, but the credit markets have to be open,” Calhoun said, noting that Boeing “has $15 billion in the bank.”

(Reporting by David Shepardson, editing by Louise Heavens)