The 737 Max has been globally grounded since March 2019 after two serious crashes, which killed almost 345 individuals. For more than 20 months, Boeing has been working closely with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in the US to come up with changes to the plane, which can allow it to get certified and safely carry passengers again.
With the changes that Boeing made, the FAA lifted the ban, allowing the plane to return to the sky. It is now a turning point for Boeing that has suffered a lot of losses, from grounding and slowdown in international travels caused by the global pandemic – coronavirus. However, the current rulings raise a few questions on what comes next. So, to help you understand what airlines can expect after the ban lifting, narrow down to the below information:
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Airworthiness
Following the FAA approval, IATA calls upon all global regulators to allow the Boeing 737 Max to return to service as soon as possible. As part of the ban lifting decisions, aviation safety organizations have ordered airlines and Boeing to make the necessary changes to a flight control system and increase pilot training as well as update manuals. Only then will the FAA sign off on certifications for all airlines that want to follow suite.
Some of the US airlines that have the plane in their fleets include American, United, and Southwest. American resumed its flights on December 29 last year, with a Max flight between New York, LaGuardia, and Miami. However, it expects to add more Max flights with around 35 departures from Miami depending on the week’s day.
The CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) in the UK has also lifted a ban on the plane, and every airline in the country can now start to fly it. Similar to CAA, Canada’s regulator has also lifted the grounding order, with its aviation already making plans to offer services again.
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Compliance
The green light from the EASA is an important step to resolve the two-year safety crashes that were connected to flawed cockpit software. Following the provisional approval in November, EASA received several whistleblower reports directly and sifted through input from around 40 commenters, which were analyzed.
Although the inspections assessed that the MCAS’s and related-alerting systems’ behaviors were the major cause of the crashes, EASA realized that 737 Max is still important. However, Omar Kaddouha, a professional in aviation safety of flight still insists that all 737 Max pilots have to go through special training, including simulator lessons, to make sure they are conversant with the redesigned plane and specific situations that could arise in flights.
Boeing has also agreed with EASA that manufacturers should increase the plane system’s resilience to AoA sensor failures to improve the safety of aircraft even further. The US organization is as well working closely with its counterparts in the European Union, Brazil, and Canada on the revised pilot training requirements.
In Conclusion!
Fears that travelers across the world, not just in the US, would go out of the way to prevent Boeing 737 Max looked groundless one week after the plane returned to the skies.
The likes of American Airlines are ramping up the services, but other carriers are also slowly following suite after meeting all the aviation regulators’ requirements.
