The had a deep financial effect on the aviation industry and a significant effect on the national economy of the United States. No airline took delivery of the MAX during the groundings. A grounding of the 737 MAX 8 lasted between 13 March 2019 and 18 November 2020 and a shorter grounding for the 737 MAX 9 between 6 January 2024 and 25 January 2024. Boeing slowed MAX production to 42 aircraft per month until January 2020, when they halted until the aircraft was reapproved by regulators. Boeing has suffered directly through increased costs, loss of sales and revenue, loss of reputation, victims litigation, client compensation, decreased credit rating and lowered stock value. In January 2020, the company estimated a loss of $18.4 billion for 2019, and it reported 183 canceled MAX orders for the year.

In February 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting travel bans created further uncertainty for Boeing. In March 2020, news that Boeing was seeking a $60 billion bailout caused a steep drop in its stock price, though Boeing eventually received $17 billion in funds from the coronavirus stimulus. Its extensive supply chain providing aircraft components and flight simulators suffered similar losses, as did the aircraft services industry, including crew training, the aftermarket and the aviation insurance industry. At the time of the recertification by the FAA in November 2020, Boeing's net orders for the 737 MAX were down by more than 1,000 aircraft, 448 orders canceled and 782 orders removed from the backlog because they are no longer certain enough to rely on; the total estimated direct costs of the MAX groundings were US$20billion and indirect costs over US$60billion. On January 7, 2021, Boeing settled to pay over $2.5 billion after being charged with fraud.

Effect on Boeing

Following its intention to suspend production in December 2019, Boeing estimated an additional cost of $6.3 billion to deliver the 737 MAX program and a subsequent reduction in the program's anticipated profit margin.

Boeing initially hoped that flights would resume by July 2019, but on June 3, CEO Dennis Muilenburg revised this to the end of 2019, with no firm timeline. On July 18, Boeing reaffirmed a return to flight during the fourth quarter of 2019, but noting that the date could still slip. In September 2019, Muilenburg suggested a phased return around the world because of the regulatory divisions regarding recertification. Later that same month Boeing told its suppliers that the plane could return to service by November. On November 11, 2019, Boeing revised this to a resumption of deliveries in December 2019 and commercial flights in January 2020. In January 2020, Boeing said it was not expecting recertification until mid 2020.

In the second quarter of 2019, Boeing reported a record quarterly loss of $2.9billion, as it provisioned $4.9billion for airlines compensation. Its inventory had grown by $6billion, its stock market value had dropped by $62billion and its share price lost 25% between March and August 2019. Including the knock-on cost for airlines and the supply chain, the groundings were costing $4billion per quarter. At the time of the grounding, Boeing's annual revenue was $100billion, 60% of which came from sales of airliners. The 737 MAX represented a third of sales to airlines. The company had a 10% profit margin, for an annual profit of $10billion. It employed 137,000 people in the United States and paid $45billion to 13,600 domestic suppliers, which employed a further 1.3million people, accounting for about 1% of the American workforce. In the first quarter of 2020, Boeing is seeking financial bailout of $60-billion against further disruptions caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

A special board meeting on October 20, 2019, discussed the financial effect of the groundings, amid speculation of possible staff reductions. Staff in the US and the UK were not to receive their 2019 Christmas bonuses. New CEO Dave Calhoun will receive a multimillion-dollar bonus if he achieves a key milestone of returning the MAX to service.

Development of the Boeing New Midsize Airplane has been postponed to prioritize resources on returning the MAX to service. In July 2019, Boeing desisted from a $60billion Pentagon procurement to replace land-based nuclear missiles. Dow Jones Newswires reported that "some analysts" said that Boeing's ability to pursue big military projects is reduced because of the financial cost of the groundings. As of November 2020, banks valued Boeing's direct costs at 20 billion, and indirect costs of over 60 billion dollars (1200 aircraft) in lost sales, which may be recovered in the future at concessionary prices.

On January 7, 2021, Boeing settled to pay over $2.5 billion after being charged with fraud over the company's hiding of information from safety regulators: a criminal monetary penalty of $243.6 million, $1.77 billion of damages to airline customers, and a $500 million crash-victim beneficiaries fund.

737 MAX 9 grounding On January 6, 2024, Alaska Airlines flight 1282, a 737 MAX 9, experienced a rapid decompression after a door plug blew out shortly after takeoff from Portland International Airport. The same day, the FAA grounded 171 MAX 9 aircraft in service at the time. Boeing also temporarily halted the production of the MAX jets.

FAA administrator Mike Whitaker directed Boeing to set new safety standards, which led to an increase of on-site safety inspectors in Boeing's Washington facility and at Spirit AeroSystems, the company which manufactured the emergency exit doors for the MAX series.

The FAA conducted an inspection and discovered non-compliance issues in Boeing's manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Litigation Pilots In June 2019, 737 MAX pilots jointly filed a class action against Boeing for lost wages due to the grounding, claiming that Boeing attempted to cover-up design flaws with the aircraft.

On October 7, 2019, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association filed a suit against Boeing, arguing it misled the airline's labor union. The association said the MAX grounding cost its pilots over $100million in lost income, which it claims Boeing should pay.

Victims' families Bereaved families of the Lion Air crash are in settlement talks with Boeing, while the Ethiopian victims' families are pursuing a jury trial. Boeing, a Chicago-based company, is the target of over 100 cases in U.S. District Court in Chicago. In October 2019, the company hired Dan K. Webb, co-executive chairman of the Winston & Strawn law firm; he will work with a team of attorneys on the lawsuits filed on behalf of the victims of both accidents.

Unlike the maximum claim by a passenger against an airline, which is limited by the Montreal Convention, claims against the manufacturer are not subject to a preset limit. In effect since 1999, the convention requires an airline, regardless of fault, if it is based in a country that ratified the treaty, to pay around $170,000 each as a minimum liability.

Representatives of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 may be able to argue that Boeing knew, or should have known or contemplated, the risk of a crash from knowledge of MCAS and previous issues, including the earlier Lion Air crash, potentially opening a route to punitive damages. According to lawyers involved in passenger claims, the U.S. legal structure for damage claims is often plaintiff-friendly, and Boeing may therefore attempt to argue that claims on behalf of deceased passengers should be heard in other countries.

On July 3, 2019, Boeing announced it would set aside $100million to help families of victims with education, hardship and living expenses and for community programs and economic development. However, the plan was criticized by several families, calling it "too vague" and citing that Boeing did not consult them ahead of time. Boeing initially did not explain how it would allocate the money. Boeing later announced it dedicates half to distribute to families of victims, under the oversight of veteran U.S. compensation expert Ken Feinberg. The remainder is reserved for government and community projects. Boeing said that the fund distributions are independent from the outcome of lawsuits.

On September 25, 2019, Boeing began to settle the first lawsuits with families of the Lion Air crash victims. It has been reported that each of the settlements cost $1.2million.

On October 30, during congressional hearings, Boeing's CEO was destabilized when lawmakers grilled him about Boeing's attempt to move legal cases from the Lion Air accident out of the US. Peter DeFazio (D) Oregon, the chair of the committee, starkly asked Muilenburg how, as the CEO, he could not be aware of the company's legal strategy.

On January 7, 2021, Boeing settled to establish a $500 million crash-victim beneficiaries fund.

Orders and deliveries

At the time of the grounding, Boeing had 4,636 unfilled orders worldwide for the 737 MAX valued at an estimated $600billion. Analysts estimated that each month of the grounding delayed $1.8billion in revenue to the company. Boeing responded to the market pressures by making massive concessions to customers.

Several airlines have cancelled or announced an intention to cancel orders: Date Customer Orders Note 2019-03-11 Lion Air 200 () In favor of Airbus aircraft. 2019-03-22 Garuda Indonesia 49 "Passengers have lost trust." 2019-04 Jet Airways 119 out of 200 Suspended operations, remain as contractual agreements. 2019-04 Virgin Australia 15 Deferred by almost two years until satisfied with the MAX safety. 2019-06-03 Azerbaijan Airlines 10 MAX 8s Planned to postpone. 2019-07-07 flyadeal (Saudi Arabia) 30 MAX 8s ($6bn) Suspended, planning switch to the A320neo family. 2019-07-29 Turkish Airlines 63 (54 MAX 8s + 9 MAX 9s) Considering switching to the A320neo. 2019-07-31 China Southern Airlines 64 MAX 8s Suspended orders scheduled to join the 26 MAXs already in its fleet. 2019-08-27 Rostec's subsidiary Avia (Russia) 35 Filed a US lawsuit to cancel the order. 2019-10 Royal Air Maroc 2 Suspended. 2020-01-15 Malaysia Airlines 25 Suspended delivery. 2020-01 Norwegian Air International 14 Postponed delivery.

However, Turkish airline SunExpress and an unnamed airline ordered 30 MAXs at the Dubai Airshow in November 2019.

Boeing lost 45 orders for the MAX, following cancellations and conversions, through the first 10 months of 2019.

On January 14, 2020, Boeing reported a net loss of 87 aircraft orders in 2019, its worst performance in three decades; airline customers had canceled 183 orders for the MAX, while Boeing received only 96 orders for other aircraft.

In April 2020, analysts expected a wave of cancellations after the global coronavirus pandemic resulted in steep reduction of passenger air travel. Airlines and lessors may decide to cancel MAX orders without penalty due to contract provisions enabled by the aircraft's prolonged grounding.

As of the end of July 2020, Boeing's order book for the 737 MAX had been reduced by 836 aircraft since the beginning of the year, for a total firm order backlog of 4,496 aircraft, compared to 7,539 for the Airbus A320neo family.

Revenue and earnings On April 24, 2019, Boeing released its first-quarter results. The company announced that the grounding of the 737 MAX would cost as much as $1billion. It consequently suspended its stock buyback program and announced that the previously released earnings forecasts, which were compiled prior to the grounding, were no longer valid and new forecasts will be released in the future. Boeing also blamed the grounding for a 21% drop in quarterly profits relative to the quarterly profits from the previous year.