#Airbus, the European Aerospace Company that provides the only real global competition to #Boeing, announced in 2010 that it would manufacture a new, fuel-efficient and cost effective aircraft. Boeing responded by rushing to bring its own version to market and the #737MAX was born. It would be the latest 737 model of the short to medium-range, narrow-body twin jet so popular with the world’s airlines.
In fact, since its introduction in1968, the 737 has become the best selling aircraft in history. Boeing had built more than 10,500 of the aircraft so the market eagerly looked forward to whatever updates, improvements and modifications the company would offer in the latest version. The airlines responded and Boeing had over 5,000 orders for the MAX on their books, ensuring profitability for many years to come.
This fourth generation 737, known as the MAX 8 first took to the air in commercial service as Flight # 803 from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore in May of 2017 with Malaysian low-cost carrier #malindoair. Other airlines were eager to introduce the model to their fleets. Things took a fatal turn for the worse though on Monday, October 29, 2018. At 6:20 AM local time #LionAirways Flight # 610 took off from Jakarta, Indonesia on a domestic flight. Twelve minutes after takeoff, the aircraft plunged into the Java Sea, claiming the lives of all 189 passengers and crew on board.
Another 737 MAX 8 customer was #flyethiopian. The airline is Africa’s largest in terms of passengers carried, destinations served, fleet size and revenue. It serves a network of 125 destinations which makes it the world’s 4th largest airline by number of countries served. Not quite five months after the Lion Air disaster, at 8:38 AM local time on Sunday, March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight # 302 departed from the capital city of Addis Ababa with157 people aboard. After only 6 minutes in the air, the plane crashed. There were no survivors.
The Indonesian rescue teams located the flight data recorder in early November last year and the cockpit voice recorder was found several months later. Both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder from the Ethiopian plane were recovered from the crash site the very next day, on March 11 of this year. While these are the only two accidents involving the new MAX series of aircraft, similarities have emerged. which resulted in the grounding of more than 300 of the passenger jets worldwide within days.
Both crashes are currently under investigation. However, a preliminary report from Indonesian investigators indicated that the doomed Lion Air flight went down because a faulty sensor mistakenly reported the aircraft was stalling. This erroneous indication triggered an automated system that then pointed the aircraft nose down so that it could gain enough speed to fly safely. Investigators have discovered similarities in the angle of attack data from both flights. Three days after the second accident, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) joined its counterparts elsewhere around the globe in grounding the plane. There is no concrete indication as to when the aircraft will fly again. Boeing has stopped delivery of all new MAX jets to its customers and the company’s stock losses have amounted to a whopping $28 billion.
So with the above in mind, let’s take a look at the four largest airlines in the US and see how this has affected their operations. Three of the four faced a logistical challenge regarding which flights to cancel and which flights to cover with other aircraft. #AmericanAir has 24 MAX 8s in its fleet. Most of them were flying in and out of Miami but have since been ferried to the southwestern desert. The airline has removed the plane from its schedule through December 3 and claims that it will lead to approximately 115 cancelled flights per day. Even when Boeing gets clearance to fly the type once again, American has said it will need between 30 and 45 days to provide its 4,000 pilots qualified to fly the 737 with the additional training expected to be required. In July they claimed the grounding would impact pre-tax profits for the year by approximately $400 million. American has been plagued with greater numbers of cancellations than usual in this busy summer season. Not everything can be attributable to the MAX grounding. They are in an ongoing contract dispute with their mechanics union (they even sued the union claiming an illegal slowdown forced increased cancellations) and their pilots’ contract expires in December. Negotiations with them haven’t even begun yet. Expect more turbulence for American Airlines in the months ahead.
#Delta does not have any MAX aircraft in its fleet nor do they have any plans for purchase. However, the carrier has derived some unanticipated benefits from the grounding, helping it to grow capacity in the first half of the year. Sixty percent of their aircraft are manufactured by Boeing and airline CEO Ed Bastian has gone on record as saying he is confident the problem will be solved as “Boeing has been the most successful aviation company in the world.”
#SouthwestAir was the largest operator of the MAX thus far with 34 planes, representing about 5 percent of its total fleet. The largest domestic carrier in the US has taken the aircraft off its schedule up to January 5, 2020. Southwest said this “would proactively remove an average of more than 200 weekday flights from our schedule” The airline took a $175 million hit to pre-tax income in the second quarter and also announced the grounding will result in their no longer serving #EWRairport as they consolidate their New York operations at #LGAairport effective on November 2.
#united has 14 of the 737 MAX 9 aircraft in its fleet and had been storing the jets in Houston and Los Angeles since the grounding. They recently decided to move them into long term storage in Goodyear, Arizona, near Phoenix. #USATODAY reports United will fly 12 of the aircraft from Houston (to avoid hurricane season) and pick up the remaining 2 aircraft from Los Angeles (due to construction at #LosLAX). The Phoenix area was selected because its very dry air permits aircraft to be stored “in the elements” without damage over time. United did not reveal how the grounding impacted its financial performance but they did announce they’ve signed an agreement to purchase 19 used Boeing 737-700 planes. These are older jets that it can put into service to meet demand and are expected to be delivered towards year end. On August 30 United also reported their MAX 9s are off the schedule until December 19, six weeks longer than planned.
The FAA recently said “a blue ribbon panel of experts around the world will need a few more weeks to finish its review into the Boeing 737 MAX certification.” That leads me to wonder, would any of you fly on the 737 MAX when it’s again certified? Please let me know.
Until next time…safe travels.
Nice post George, and "No" I will not be keen to get on a Max8 until others have tried and tested it! Keep your head down as Dorian passes!