Transport Canada announced on the 18th local time that it had completed the nearly two-year review of the Boeing 737 MAX, issued airworthiness instructions for the model, and lifted the ban on commercial flights of the Boeing 737 MAX on the 20th of this month, thus completing the last step of the aircraft’s return to Canada.
Since the implementation of the national flight ban in early 2019, Canada is the third country after Brazil and the United States to approve the resumption of 737 MAX. Will Boeing’s return go smoothly?
Half a year, two, 346 people
In October 2018, a Boeing 737 MAX8 passenger plane of Lion Air Indonesia with 189 passengers and crew lost contact 13 minutes after take-off, and was later confirmed to have crashed in nearby waters.All the people on board were killed.
In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX8 with 157 passengers and crew lost contact six minutes after take-off and was later confirmed to crash. All the people on board were killed.
In less than half a year, there were two consecutive 737 MAX planes that were destroyed and killed, killing 346 people.
These two air crashes have caused the safety of Boeing 737 MAX to face an unprecedented crisis of confidence, and governments have issued flight bans against the Boeing 737 MAX one after another.
Many airlines have also suffered large losses and have filed claims against Boeing. The U.S. government has also begun an investigation into the safety of Boeing’s 737 MAX series of airliners.
On September 16, 2020, after a series of investigations, the U.S. House of Representatives released an investigation report on the Boeing 737 MAX series aircraft, concluding that the previous two air crashes were caused by the “a series of serious mistakes” made by Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration.
There is an urgent need for a thorough reform of the regulatory system of the air space agency.
On January 7, 2021, the U.S. Attorney General announced that Boeing had agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion to reach a settlement on the criminal investigation of the 737 MAX.
It is worth mentioning that after the settlement is reached, the criminal charges involved in the accident will be terminated, and Boeing will not have to plead guilty.
According to Boeing, the direct cost of the grounding is about $20 billion, including $8.6 billion in compensation to customers for the grounding, $5 billion in unconventional production costs, and $6.3 billion in additional costs for the 737 MAX project.
Wave after wave
While Boeing is still worried about the 737 MAX incident, a crisis that has hit the entire aviation industry has hit.
According to the 2020 Aviation Insight Report released by Global Aviation Data Corporation, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, global passenger traffic in 2020 fell by about 67% compared with 2019, to the level of 1999 at the end of the last century.
The global aviation industry has been almost stalled due to the blockade policies of various countries.
Even if a small number of flights are still in the process, it is an unprecedented impact on the aviation industry.
Several airlines are facing serious economic difficulties, and tens of thousands of employees have been forced to suspend or lay off workers.
Many observers pointed out that this would put the plan to buy the aircraft on hold.
Boeing, as an aircraft manufacturer, has also been hit hard.
According to Reuters, the latest data of Boeing on January 13 this year shows that Boeing delivered 157 aircraft to customers in 2020, about 60% lower than in 2019 and the lowest level in 43 years.
The full year saw 184 new orders, 25% lower than in 2019, the lowest level since 1994, with buyers cancelling a total of 641 Boeing 737 MAX orders.
Boeing is facing the cold winter of the entire aviation industry in the crisis of questioning the safety of its products.
Successive blows forced Boeing to lay off workers and reduce operating costs.
AFP has reported that due to the long-term grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX and the outbreak of the coronavirus, Boeing has been cutting its spending, which will reduce the number of employees from 160,000 in January 2020 to 130,000 at the end of 2021, and lay off nearly 19% of the workforce in less than two years.
“Our business is still under pressure from the global pandemic and we’re adjusting to the reality,” Boeing CEO David Calhoun said.
737 MAX difficult to “take off” Boeing’s future uncertain
As Boeing’s “star” product, Boeing’s 737 MAX has been approved for a re-flying, which Boeing regards as the hope of revitalizing the company.
July 2020
The Federal Aviation Administration said that it had completed the certification test flight of the 737 MAX with Boeing, which was a key milestone for the aircraft to be re-entered into service.
November 18, 2020
The Federal Aviation Administration announced on its official website that it approved the resumption of the Boeing 737 MAX.
November 24, 2020
European aviation regulators have approved the Boeing 737 MAX, which will pave the way for the official resumption of the aircraft in Europe in January 2021.
November 25, 2020
Brazil’s civil aviation authority approved the resumption of the Boeing 737 MAX.
On December 9, Brazilian Gore Airlines resumed commercial flights of the Boeing 737 MAX model, becoming the first airline in the world to resume using the aircraft.
December 29, 2020
Boeing 737 MAX commercial flight returned to the United States for the first time.
January 18, 2021
Transport Canada announced that it would lift the ban on commercial flights of Boeing 737 MAX on the 20th of this month.
Some netizens congratulated the Boeing 737 MAX on social media for its upcoming return in Canada.
Although the 737 MAX has returned to many places, many consumers still expressed distrust of Boeing.
Relatives of several flight attendants took the flight during the return flight to the United States on December 29 last year to boost public confidence in the 737 MAX.
Nevertheless, the resumption of flight has caused controversy among the people. According to a survey, nearly half of the respondents still have doubts about the safety of the Boeing 737MAX.
The families of the victims of the plane crash are also still opposed to the resumption of the plane.
Many experts say that the aviation industry has not recovered in recent years due to the impact of the global epidemic.
This will be a cold winter for the whole industry, affecting more than one model.
Whether the resumption of Boeing’s 737 MAX can make Boeing smoothly move on the road of return is still a question mark.
