NEW YORK – Boeing yesterday said it has been hit with another 12 cancelled orders for the 737 MAX, as the flagship aircraft is close to returning to the skies after being grounded since March last year following two deadly crashes.
The US aviation giant, which has been battered by the MAX crisis as well as the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic that has devastated airline travel, received no new orders last month and delivered only 13 aircraft.
The plane was grounded after two crashes that killed a total of 346 people, but the company has been working with regulators to address the issues that contributed to the accidents and is closer to receiving the green light to return to service.
According to news reports, this could be as soon as November 18.
“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in the final stages of reviewing the proposed changes to the Boeing 737 MAX,” said FAA administrator Steve Dickson in a message sent to AFP on Monday.
“We expect that this process will be finished in the coming days, once the agency is satisfied that Boeing has addressed the safety issues that played a role in the tragic loss of 346 lives aboard Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.”
Airlines can then start training their pilots, which could take several weeks.
American Airlines plans to return the 737 MAX to service in the final days of the year, with daily flights from December 29 to January 4 on Miami-New York routes.
Southwest, which has more of the aircraft in its fleet, is not planning to schedule passenger flights on the plane before the second quarter of next year. – AFP, November 11, 2020
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