The 737 Max was grounded in March 2019 following two fatal crashes in five months, killing 346 people.

Efforts to get the aircraft back in the skies are ongoing in the US, Canada and Europe, with Boeing working through a "rigorous" certification and validation flight programme, and updated crew training.

This is being overseen by the US Federal Aviation Administration, Transport Canada and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

"The 737 Max has now completed around 1,400 test and check flights and more than 3,000 flight hours as it progresses through the robust and comprehensive certification process," said Boeing on Wednesday (28 October) in a third-quarter results update.

President and chief executive Dave Calhoun added: "This quarter, we made important progress working closely with global regulators on 737 certification efforts.

"We also introduced a comprehensive safety management system, which incorporates the many lessons learned from the internal and external investigations surrounding the Max."

Boeing, though, also revealed on Wednesday it expects to cut its workforce by around 20% by the end of 2021, down from 160,000 to 130,000.

It reported Q3 revenue down nearly 30% year-on-year from $20 billion to $14.1 billion, resulting in a Q3 loss of $466 million, down from a $1.167 million profit a year ago.

Commercial aircraft deliveries, meanwhile, more than halved from 62 to 28 during Q3, sending Boeing’s revenue from this segment plummeting from $8.2 billion this time last year to just $3.6 billion.

Boing cited the impact of Covid-19 for downturn, adding the outlook included $590 million in abnormal production costs relating to its 737 programme.