The FAA ultimately grounded the MAX on March 13, 2019 and lifted the flight prohibition order in November 2020 after Boeing made a series of software upgrades and training changes.

The Boeing 737 MAX was officially grounded in the United States by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on March 13, 2019. The decision was formalized through an emergency order signed by the Acting FAA Administrator at the time, following the tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. Notably, the US was one of the last major aviation markets to ground the aircraft; China, the European Union, and Canada had already suspended the plane's operations days or hours earlier. The grounding was motivated by evidence from the crash sites and satellite tracking data that showed similarities between the two accidents, specifically involving the MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System). President Donald Trump also made a public announcement regarding the grounding shortly before the FAA issued the official directive. The aircraft remained out of service for 20 months, undergoing extensive software patches and pilot training overhauls before the FAA cleared it for a return to service in November 2020.