A new round of delays could keep Boeing's 737 MAX fleet on the ground into the December holiday season
By Andy Pasztor and Alison Sider Sept. 1, 2019 6:29 pm ET Friction between Boeing Co. BA 0.37% and international air-safety authorities threatens a new delay in bringing the grounded 737 MAX fleet back into service, according to government and pilot union officials briefed on the matter.
The upshot, the people said, is likely to be several more weeks of delay that could significantly reduce the likelihood that many of the planes would be back flying passengers in North America during the Christmas holidays, as Boeing and some U.S. carriers have publicly projected. The meetings and the fallout haven’t been reported before.
An FAA spokesman said the agency “continues to follow a thorough process, not a prescribed timeline, for returning the aircraft to passenger service.” Referring to various U.S. and international safety reviews under way, he added, “While the agency’s certification processes are well-established and have consistently produced safe aircraft designs, we welcome the scrutiny from these experts and look forward to their findings.
The apparent discord comes amid signs of additional hitches in the process of getting the green light and FAA certification for the MAX. In recent weeks, Boeing and the FAA identified another potential flight-control computer risk requiring additional software changes and testing, according to two of the government and pilot officials.
Boeing since late last year has either submitted, or been on the verge of submitting, three earlier versions of the software fixes, only to be delayed by various technical challenges and questions requiring more analysis and simulator testing. Both carriers indicated they were confident the jet will be ready to rejoin their fleets in time for the end-of-year holidays. Both had previously aimed to resume MAX flights in early November.
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