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A few weeks after the end of the flight ban, a passenger flight with the Boeing 737 Max jet took off for the first time on Tuesday. American Airlines Flight 718 took off from Miami for New York.
“This plane is ready to go,” American Airlines chief Robert Isom said. The airline is confident in the safety of the model. The airline has 31 Max models in its fleet, the control technology of which had to be revised after two accidents. For Boeing, the restart in the US is one more step out of the worst crisis in the company’s 100-year history, which was exacerbated by the impact of the crown on aviation.
Controller problems as a cause of accidents
The successful Boeing 737 Max model was decommissioned in March 2019 after two accidents with a total of 346 deaths in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Problems with the control system were considered to be the cause of the accident. The US aviation authority FAA again approved flight operations in mid-November after software updates and with conditions such as pilot training.
The supervisors were charged with negligence in controlling the powerful US aircraft manufacturer due to the accidents. After a change in the law passed over the weekend, the FAA must reform its certification processes to insulate itself from pressure from supervisees.
No more bonus payments
For example, the FAA can no longer pay bonuses to its employees for meeting manufacturer deadlines. At Boeing, the safety culture will be reviewed. Criminal investigations against those responsible for the aircraft manufacturer are still ongoing.
American Airlines is not the first airline to use the model again. Brazil and Mexico gave the Max the green light shortly after the United States, so Brazilian airline Gol and Aeroméxico have already handled about 250 flights. Meanwhile, there is still great mistrust among passengers.
More than half no longer want to fly with Max
According to a Reuters / Ipsos survey, nearly 40 percent of respondents in the US still had head injuries. When informed of the incidents, 57 percent said they did not want to fly a Max. 37 percent would be willing to get on the plane if it had been tested in the air for at least six months.
The European supervisory authority EASA itself checks the new approval of the model, instead of taking over from the FAA as usual. A decision has been announced for January. In Europe, low-cost airline Ryanair is Max’s largest customer with an order for 210 aircraft.
The first machine, consisting of the 737 model series, will join the fleet early next year. The airlines of the TUI travel group have ordered 15 Max aircraft in their fleet and 57 more. In the Corona crisis, a lot of planes are grounded on all airlines anyway. According to a spokesperson, the time when such a plane will take off at TUI is still open, as EASA approval is still pending.
At Boeing, about 450 new copies await customers after numerous cancellations. The German-Turkish holiday airline Sun Express, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, has placed an order for 42 copies on the plane. However, the acceptance of new machines has been postponed, as Sun Express head Max Kownatzki recently told the specialized portal Aerotelegraph. “We will get the first Boeing 737 Max by the end of 2021.” (SDA)
