Boeing’s unlucky jet 737 Max was granted permission to take off after being banned from flying for more than one and a half years. One of the prerequisites for this is the installation of new control software on the aircraft, as the US air traffic control authority FAA announced on Wednesday in Washington. It should still take a while until the 737 Max can fully start up again. First the last maintenance work and pilot training must be completed.

Two crashes in half a year The 737 Max was in March 2019 after two crashes with a total of 346 dead. Soon the crash of a 737 Max of the Indonesian Lion Air in October 2018 The first indications of a possible problem with the aircraft type emerged, which only five months later hardened after a comparable accident with an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft. The main cause of the accidents is now a faulty control program.

Europe’s aviation authority EASA had already declared in mid-October that the 737 Max was sufficiently safe again and thus signaled her consent to a re-admission. Experts expect that the European and other international supervisory authorities will also quickly give the green light. In addition to EASA, Canada and Brazil’s supervisors had already cooperated with the FAA on parts of the reauthorisation process.

Boeing described the FAA’s decision as an “important milestone” in a statement. CEO Dave Calhoun once again expressed his condolences to the families of the crash victims. The tragic accidents and the lessons Boeing learned from them led to a realignment of the company and a stronger focus on safety, quality and integrity. Boeing must ensure that such accidents never happen again, Calhoun wrote in an internal memo to employees. His predecessor Dennis Muilenburg had to end his hat 2019

Boeing in crisis Now it has to be shown how airlines and passengers accept the crisis pilots. What is certain is that the accidents shook confidence in Boeing and seriously scratched the company’s image, which until the crash was considered a model corporation that was spoiled for success and a driving force of the US economy. Because of the debacle surrounding the 737 Max, Boeing had come under massive criticism and was suspected of having rushed the model onto the market in fierce competition with Airbus to have neglected security. Boeing rejected this, but the manufacturer has admitted errors and mishaps.

The final report of the US Congress on the crashes came to the conclusion that technical errors as well as concealment and regulatory failures led to the accidents. The FAA also suffered severe criticism. In the report, the authorities are accused of grossly inadequate controls. The regulators should turn a blind eye to the original certification of 737 Max and let Boeing lead them around by the nose. Sensitive internals put the FAA in a very bad light. In explosive Boeing chats it was said to 346 Max: “This airplane is designed by clowns who are in turn supervised by monkeys.”

The 737 – Max disaster also put Boeing under severe financial pressure and ultimately cost CEO Denis Muilenburg the job. The Airbus arch-rival could 737 Max – his best-selling model up to the crashes – because of the flight bans since spring 2019 no longer deliver to customers. Numerous orders were canceled and Boeing incurred billions in extra costs. In the three months to the end of September, the fourth quarterly loss in a row was incurred. The group is reacting to the sluggish financial situation with drastic cost-cutting measures and wants its number of employees to be around by the end of 2021 .000 reduce. For comparison: At the beginning 2020 Boeing still had about 160. 000 employees.

FAA boss Steve Dickson had always emphasized that when the 737 Max to be particularly meticulous. Dickson himself has only been in office since August 2019, so he took over the supervision clearly after the crashes in October 2018 and March 2019. The FAA boss, who was a long-time pilot for Delta Air Lines among other things, had personally checked the security of the 737 Max is convinced. Dickson was satisfied with the flight and the pilot training on the flight simulator. The FAA had already completed its hot test phase at the beginning of July.

New pilot training necessary In October, the US Aviation Authority publicly presented their drafts for the revised pilot training of 737 Max. The feedback was not all positive, however. For example, there was clear criticism from the pilots’ union. Relatives of some crash victims also expressed concerns as to whether the new guidelines were sufficient to ensure that the MCAS control software, which is the main cause of the accidents, can be better controlled by flight crews in the future. One of the big points of criticism was that pilots were not able to override the automatic in emergencies.

Even if the re-admission of the 737 Max is a great relief for Boeing, the US aircraft giant continues to face extremely difficult times. The corona pandemic, which paralyzed large parts of air traffic and put many airlines in financial straits, is likely to be a burden for much longer. The group expects a dry spell that will permanently dampen demand for aircraft. Boeing expects it will take about three years to get back up to the level of 2019. It will be five or more years before the aviation industry returns to its long-term growth trend.

(vbr)