[Photo/IC]

Boeing on Wednesday reported its first annual loss in more than 20 years from fallout of the worldwide grounding of its 737 MAX.

Boeing said it lost $636 million in 2019 compared with a profit of $10.46 billion in 2018.

The MAX, Boeing's best-selling jet, has been grounded worldwide since March 2019 following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed a total of 346 passengers and crew.

Boeing hopes the plane will be recertified this summer, but it will take months to get the grounded aircraft back in the air.

Investigators believe the MAX's automated anti-stall device, called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MACS) erroneously pointed the nose of the planes down to avoid a midair stall and into a fatal plunge. Boeing has updated the system's software, but the US Federal Aviation Administration hasn't yet approved it.