The information leaked through the House of Representatives in the US Congress. On Wednesday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure released documents showing that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicted in its first report, following the two accidents in 2018that Boeing 737MAX could potentially be involved in 15 types of fatal accident over 45 years of use if no changes were made. The report is explosive, and points to the responsibility of the American aircraft manufacturer and the authorities in the certification of the aircraft, as well as the failure to alert user airlines to the risks presented by the aircraft. We can therefore deduce that the FAA still wants to take its time. At best, the Boeing 737MAX could be re-certified at the end of the year. mid-2020.
we have decided to give priority to the delivery of stocked aircraft and to temporarily suspend production of the 737 programme from next month.
In the wake of this decision, the American aircraft manufacturer had to draw the necessary conclusions. A press release issued on 16 December stated: " Throughout the grounding of the 737 MAX, Boeing has continued to produce new aircraft and there are now approximately 400 devices in storage. We have already indicated that we will continually review our production plans if the downtime continues longer than we had anticipated. As a result of this ongoing assessment, we have decided toprioritise the delivery of stocked aircraft and temporarily suspend production of the 737 programme from next month" .
an unacceptable level of risk
This is a major blow both for Boeing and, above all, for its customers. the airlines which, for a year now, have been have to adjust their flight schedules and frequencies in line with thegrounding of these aircraft. FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson said later during a hearing with the House Committee that the report presented a " unacceptable level of risk ". The FAA has begun to take action, including a emergency order to make pilots aware of the aircraft's unique problem. The Boeing 737 MAX will not be returned to service until the FAA has deemed a software patch and a new pilot training programme to be adequate. Modifications to the flight system will have to be certified during a test flight and validated by an operations evaluation committee, made up of members from the CanadatheEurope and Brazil.
Airlines will therefore continue to face a shortage of aircraft. American Airlines is the first major US airline to exclude the Boeing737 MAX from its network planning until next April. United and Southwest are managing the absence of the aircraft until the beginning of March. However, in an interview with Bloomberg, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly indicated that there was now every chance that the date of 6 March, set by the company for reinstating the aircraft, would be further postponed. This will virtually mean a stagnation in capacity and frequencies for the three American airlines. At Europe, Ryanair is the most affected. On 6 December, the low-cost carrier announced that it would be closing its bases at Skavsta in Sweden and Nuremberg in Germany in 2020, following the closure of several bases in Italy and Spain last summer.
(Article updated on the morning of 17 December)
