The grounding order was put in place by most governments in March 2019 after two crashes took place – one in Indonesia in October 2018 and the other in Ethiopia in March 2019. A total of 346 people died in the two crashes.
After being grounded for over a year, the United States Federal Aviation Commission (FAA) has cleared the Boeing 737 Max plane to fly again.
The grounding order was put in place by most governments in March 2019 after two crashes took place – one in Indonesia in October 2018 and the other in Ethiopia in March 2019. A total of 346 people died in the two crashes.
The crashes were found to have similarities after investigation. Examination of the planes’ black box flight data showed that the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS), which is intended to act as a safeguard to prevent stalling if the plane climbs too quickly, was found to have caused the problem.
The MCAS was designed to receive input from a sensor on the outside of the plane and push the nose of the plane downward if it rose too high. However, faulty sensors on the affected planes caused the planes to go into a dive without the pilot being able to intervene.
The Boeing Company has altered the software so that its planes now have two sensors, instead of just one. Boeing has also made updates to the training materials and installed systems to provide a warning to pilots if the sensors fail.
In addition to the technical improvements made to the aircraft, Boeing has reportedly reinforced its safety practices and approach since the crashes. “These events and the lessons we have learned as a result have reshaped our company and further focused our attention on our core values of safety, quality and integrity,” said Boeing’s chief executive officer Dave Calhoun.
Brexit has provided added challenges for the reintroduction of the plane in the United Kingdom. Traditionally, the UK Civil Aviation Authority follows the regulations laid out by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), but whether it will continue to do so relies on how well trade negotiations go between the UK and the EU.
Patrick Ky, the executive director of the EASA, told Bloomberg in October that he was satisfied with the alterations Boeing has made to the aircraft and that flights in Europe could restart before the end of the year.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) still has the plane grounded and has said that there is “no set timetable” for flights to resume. Chinese approval is also connected to the continuing trade war between China and the US.
China is a big market for Boeing, with Chinese sales comprising 13% of the company’s revenue in 2015. The same year, China was Boeing’s biggest export market. However, the company hasn’t sold any passenger planes to China in the past two years due to reasons “everyone knows,” the president of Boeing China said last year.
The permission for the plane to return to the air is undoubtedly important for Boeing, but it leaves some asking if the company still has a place in the travel industry given its current state.
When the plane was initially released in 2016, the travel industry was experiencing steady growth. Between January 2016 and March 2019, Boeing’s stock went up more than 250%.
However, due to the pandemic, the travel industry has been forced to all but shut down. The airline industry as a whole is projected to see around a 70% decline in passenger traffic in 2020.
Even after receiving US$25 billion in payroll aid from the US government, airlines have furloughed tens of thousands of employees to reduce costs.
Despite the decline in the industry, Boeing has more than 3,000 orders of the 737 Max. However, the company lost 393 orders after factoring in new sales and accounting for sale transfers to different aircraft. As a direct result, the company’s rival, Airbus, received 308 new orders.
Boeing has lost US$3.45 billion this year so far due in large part to COVID-19, but also as a result of the global groundings of the 737 Max. Analysts expect that the company will not see positive cash flow until the fourth quarter of 2021.
The 737 Max is scheduled by American Airlines to take its first commercial flight since being grounded on December 29, with other major airlines saying that flights on the plane will resume in 2021.
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