737 Max returning to service
The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision Wednesday to release the Boeing 737 Max from a 20-month grounding order will likely mean passengers on at least one airline will begin flying on the planes before year’s end.
Within hours of the FAA’s announcement, American Airlines Chief Operating Officer David Seymour said the airline plans to begin noncommercial Max flights in early December, resuming scheduled service on the Max on Dec. 29 with two flights a day between Miami and LaGuardia Airport in New York City through Jan. 4.
The airline expects to gradually phase more 737 MAX aircraft into service throughout January, with up to 36 departures from its Miami hub.
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, meanwhile, said the carrier will conduct multiple readiness flights on each of its 34 Max aircraft, completing “thousands of hours of work, inspections, and the software updates before any of our Customers board a Southwest 737 Max.” He did not specify a date when the aircraft would return but estimated it “will likely take place no sooner than the second quarter of 2021.”
United, meanwhile, said it does not expect to return its fleet to service until the first quarter of next year, after completing more than 1,000 hours of work on every aircraft, including FAA-mandated changes to the flight software, additional pilot training, multiple test flights and “meticulous” technical analysis to ensure the planes are ready to fly. Delta does not currently have the Max in its fleet.
The Boeing 737 Max, once a prized update to current 737 aircraft, saw its reputation shattered in the wake of two accidents in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
The aftermath spurred multiple investigations, with the House passing a bill Tuesday tightening FAA oversight of the aircraft certification process.
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee advanced a similar bill.
The Senate bill, said Commerce ranking Democrat Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., “basically is saying that we are requiring of both the FAA and manufacturers more safety assessments and more oversight, that cutting corners is not an option but listening to front-line engineers is the most important aspect of getting this right.”
Cantwell said she conferred with FAA Administrator Steve Dickson about the decision to rescind the grounding order, but added, “whatever actions are taken today does not alleviate our responsibility for making changes to this process and ensuring that we are going to meet the highest standards of safety possible when it comes to aviation.”
