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Boeing’s 737 Max jet is flying commercial routes once again, as Brazil’s Gol Airlines put the plane back into service on Wednesday. The global fleet of 737 Max aircraft has been on the ground since March 2019, after two fatal accidents raised concerns about the aircraft’s safety and airworthiness.
Gol transported passengers in a 737 Max 8 on Wednesday from São Paulo to Porto Alegre, along Brazil’s east coast. The journey lasted about an hour and 15 minutes, and the plane landed as scheduled, according to aviation tracking site Flightradar24.
638 days after # 737MAX last paying passenger transport and the fleet was ashore all over the world, @VoeGOLoficial becomes the first airline to return the aircraft to commercial service with # G34104. Follow live: https://t.co/URsnSMMZga pic.twitter.com/WGDJvoPFvr
– Flightradar24 (@ flightradar24) December 9, 2020
A regular flight schedule is planned, and the airline says it will accommodate anyone who prefers to avoid the plane.
“Customers will be able to change their tickets if they don’t want to fly in a 737 Max,” reports The Associated Press, citing a Gol spokesperson.
Gol organized a celebration demo flight late last week, in which a collection of airline employees, executives and family members boarded the plane.
Wednesday’s commercial flight comes two weeks after Brazil’s aviation agency ANAC joined with the US Federal Aviation Administration in reversing an order that grounded the Boeing 737 Max.
The 737 Max came under intense scrutiny after the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia were attributed to “faulty sensors and a faulty flight control system that repeatedly forced the planes to plummet that the pilots were unable to control.” as reported by NPR’s David Schaper.
The FAA ordered airlines to make several improvements before the plane could carry passengers again, including software changes and improved crew training. And after a long break, the planes had to be thoroughly checked to make sure they were ready.
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