Furthermore, Boeing said it had been developing a flight control software enhancement for the 737 MAX in the aftermath of Lion Air flight crash. The Ethiopian Airlines crash took place before the enhancement was completed.

The FAA announcement, made hours after Canada announced it is pulling Boeing 737 Max aircraft from the sky, reversed the FAA's previous statements defending Boeing.

Boeing said in a statement that "out of an abundance of caution," it recommended to the FAA the suspension of operations of the entire global fleet of 371 aircraft in the 737 Max category.

Southwest Airlines, a major operator of Boeing 737 Max aircraft in the United States, said it would immediately comply with FAA's latest requirements by removing its 34 Max 8 aircraft from service.

Prior to the announcement to ground the aircraft, Southwest Airlines had been allowing free ticket exchanges to travelers who had booked flights conducted by Boeing 737 Max 8.

The news would also come as a relief for customers of American Airlines, another major operator of the aircraft that had refused to offer free ticket exchanges for those due to fly one of the aircraft.

U.S. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who has called for the grounding of the aircraft since Monday, said the FAA took a right but "overdue" step, referring to the fact that the United States was the last major country to halt operation of the questioned model, despite repeated calls from U.S. lawmakers, experts, and the public in the past couple of days for the FAA to prioritize safety.

"This step is right, but unacceptably overdue. Our nation should be leading, not lagging, in air safety. Strong, immediate scrutiny is necessary," Blumenthal tweeted, stressing that the U.S. public deserve to know "when this possible defect was 1st known, what will be done about it & who is responsible."

Pressure had been mounting for the FAA and Boeing to halt operation of the aircraft since its latest crash Sunday.

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