Washington (dpa) - Individual countries will decide whether to end the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX jet, the FAA said in a statement on Monday, over six months after the aircraft was grounded following a pair of deadly crashes.

The FAA said "each government will make its own decision to return the aircraft to service, based on a thorough safety assessment."

The statement came after FAA Administrator Steve Dickson met behind closed doors with over 50 aviation officials in Canada to update the the world aviation community on progress regarding the troubled plane.

The 737 MAX series was grounded in March after two crashes involving the MAX 8 variants, one in March in Ethiopia which killed 157 people and another in Indonesia in October which killed 189 people.

The cause of the crashes appears to be linked to a software malfunction.

Certifying the 737 MAX - Boeing's best-selling aircraft - is an essential step for the plane to start carrying passengers again.

The FAA reiterated its stance that there is "not a prescribed timeline" for returning the plane to service.

The Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) - a panel of technical safety experts from worldwide aviation authorities, the FAA and NASA - is expected to submit its findings and recommendations in the "coming weeks" as part of the recertification process.

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