Boeing says new MAX delay not due to new technical issues

Boeing's decision to advise customers its grounded 737 MAX jet was unlikely to secure flight approval until mid-year was not due to any new technical issues, a senior marketing executive said on Wednesday.

"Nothing new technically caused that. It was just our evaluation of the process, of progress and of the timeline," Darren Hulst told the Airline Economic aircraft finance conference in Dublin.

Asked how long Boeing would produce the MAX jet for, Hulst said: "we see a long runway."