US Authorizes Resumption of Boeing 737 MAX Flights | economy

FAA chief Steve Dickson has signed an order suspending the flight ban and the agency issued an airworthiness directive detailing the necessary changes, Reuters reports.

Boeing shares were up about 6% after the announcement, according to Reuters.

The aircraft will not immediately go around the world again, as the authorities of the air sector in other countries have decided to carry out their own certifications.

The FAA chief said he was “100% sure” about the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX, but said the plane’s manufacturer had more to do to improve its safety culture.

“We have done what is humanly possible to ensure that these types of accidents do not happen again,” Dickson told Reuters, adding that changes to the aircraft’s design and software have made the aircraft safe to operate again.

The FAA is demanding new pilot training and software updates to deal with a stall prevention system called MCAS, which in both accidents repeatedly pushed the nose of the plane down as the pilots struggled to recover. its control, highlights Reuters.

Boeing CEO David Calhoun said the decision was “an important step.”

The FAA’s decision comes at a time when other global regulators are also making decisions about allowing the plane to resume operation.

The decision to keep the 737 MAX aircraft on the ground in March 2019, after accidents killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia, sparked lawsuits, investigations by Congress and the Department of Justice and cut off a major source of revenue for Boeing.

A panel of the United States Congress concluded, after 18 months of investigation, that the two accidents with the Boeing 737 MAX were the result of failures of the aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the FAA. “They were the dire result of a series of incorrect technical assumptions by Boeing engineers, a lack of transparency by Boeing management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA,” the report concluded.

In the midst of the crisis, Boeing also decided in April 2020 to terminate Embraer’s commercial aviation purchase agreement, which contemplated the creation of a $ 5 billion joint venture that would be controlled by the US giant.

Boeing is seeking new buyers for many of its 737 MAXs, after seeing the original buyers cancel their orders. Demand was further hampered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite all the obstacles, resuming deliveries of the 737 MAX will open a crucial revenue channel for Boeing and hundreds of parts suppliers whose finances have been hampered by production cuts related to the plane’s suspension.

American Airlines plans to operate the first commercial MAX flight on December 29. Southwest Airlines, the world’s largest MAX operator, does not plan to resume flights from the plane until the second quarter of 2021.

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