Boeing 737 Max: Brazilian and US Airlines to Resume Commercial Flights
This Aircraft Is More Fuel-Efficient Than Older Aircraft and Costs Around $55 Million
The Brazilian airline ‘Gol’ along with the United States airline ‘United’ stated in a public statement that they are resuming passenger flights from Wednesday with the Boeing 737 Max. The commercial aircraft made by the American multinational defense and aircraft manufacturing firm Boeing, but was grounded by all airlines across the world in March 2019; soon after the Boeing 737 Max was involved in two deadly airplanes crashed that killed 346 people on board.
Since the grounding, Boeing has around 450 Boeing 737 Max jets that they have manufactured. Boeing was forced to take the aircraft out of commission as both crashes occurred within the period of five months.
Recertification of Boeing 737 Max
It has only been three weeks since the Boeing 737 Max has been allowed to fly commercially in the United States airspace. According to Gol, which is the largest Brazilian domestic airline, more than 140 of their pilots have undergone training to fly the previously grounded aircraft in the United States.
Gol has planned to use previously grounded seven of their Boeing 737 Max on about 27 passenger domestic flights. Up till now, only Brazil and the United States have recertified usage of Boeing 737 Max for passengers on November 18, and other aviation authorities are yet to follow them.
This is a significant milestone for the aircraft manufacturing firm Boeing, although it is only one step in an upcoming series of long paths to deliver the required air jets that would help in the restoration of cash-flow that has suffered a drawback due to economic recession in the entire global airline industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Since being out of service, Boeing has done several readjustments and modifications in the newly manufactured Boeing 737 Max, including revising the crew procedures, rerouting the internal wiring system, and updating the flight control software.
The vice president of the domestic Brazilian airline Gol wrote in a press release that he has complete confidence in the safety of the aircraft following the updated modifications and would now be safe for commercial operations.
For the past 20 months since Boeing 737 Max was grounded worldwide, they have been continuously carrying out multiple exhaustive safety reviews in the record of commercial aviation. The safety of the flying passengers is the first and foremost responsibility of the airline.
Facilitation to change aircraft for passengers
The airline has also provided the facility to their passengers to chance the aircraft without giving any extra cost if they did wish to travel to their destination on Boeing 737 Max. The passengers would easily be able to reschedule their trip without any difference in fares and fees while maintaining the same origin and destination and within the validity time duration of the ticket that is 12 months after the date of purchase of the ticket.
The announcement made by both United Airlines and Gol airline regarding the resumption of passenger flights with Boeing 737 Max has provided a major boost to Boeing. Along with being the first airline to be using the Boeing 737 Max for their commercial, domestic flights, Gol has also given a standing order for about 95 Boeing 737 Max to be delivered.
This news was made public within one week after Ryanair, an Irish airline, placed the order for the delivery of 75 additional Boeing 737 Max jets after they have already placed an order for 135 aircraft.
United already has 14 Being 737 Max in their existing fleet, but have ordered more to adjust their flight schedule as routines are coming back to normal as the coronavirus pandemic has been controlled in multiple countries across the world while viable vaccines have also been developed by major pharmaceutical firms.
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