Grounded Boeing planes won’t return to service until they are safe, official says

US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg has said no grounded Boeing Max aircraft would return to service until they are safe as the plane maker’s chief executive disclosed that the blowout on a flight operated by Alaska Airlines was the consequence of a “quality escape”. 

Buttigieg said on Wednesday that there was no timeline for grounded 737 Max 9s to resume flight. He added he spoke to Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun and told him the company must establish 100 per cent confidence in its planes.

The jet that lost a section of its fuselage in flight last week was the result of a “quality escape”, Calhoun told CNBC — using industry jargon for a manufacturing mistake.