November 21 The Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s English newspaper, reported on the 21st that although the Federal Aviation Administration approved the resumption of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, Indonesia will continue to ban the flight of the aircraft.
The report quoted Novie Riyanto, Director-General of Air Transport of the Indonesian Ministry of Transport, as saying that the Indonesian government “will not immediately approve the return of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to Indonesian skies, and certain procedures still need to be implemented to ensure the safety of the aircraft”.
In addition to coordinating with the FAA, Indonesia, as a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft user, maintains close ties with other ASEAN countries to coordinate synchronization policies and shares lessons learned with the European Aviation Safety Agency to ensure maximum flight safety, the aviation official said.
In October 2018, a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft of Lion Air Indonesia flew from Jakarta to Port Penanga, and crashed into the sea shortly after take-off, killing 189 people. In March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane of the same model crashed, killing 157 people. Subsequently, regulatory agencies from various countries have grounded Boeing 737MAX aircraft one after another.
Mandala, spokesman of Lion Air Indonesia, said that it was still waiting for notification from aircraft manufacturers and regulators to decide when to put the Boeing 737MAX aircraft back into use. At present, the company has 10 aircraft of this model and has dozens of orders for this model series of aircraft. The spokesman did not disclose information about these orders.
Irfan, president of Indonesia’s state-owned airline Eagle Airlines, said that “you need to obtain permission from the national aviation regulatory agency to consider flying back to Boeing 737 MAX aircraft”. He said that because the aircraft was grounded for a long time, pilots need to be retrained and procedures to be recertified before the aircraft can be operated.
The company currently has an order for one Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 49 aircraft of the same model. Ivan said that the company has not made a decision on whether to cancel these orders.
American Airlines’ high-profile return to Boeing 737MAX, the families of the victims criticized the “show”
An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX plane flew to its passenger plane maintenance center on the 2nd with media reporters to build momentum for its commercial flights to resume at the end of December.
After being grounded for 20 months due to two serious air crashes, the FAA lifted the grounding order for Boeing 737 MAX last month, recognizing Boeing’s changes in flight operation software and pilot training requirements, which means that the aviation operator under its jurisdiction can fly the aircraft again after completing the new compliance requirements.
About 90 people, including reporters from many media and American Airlines employees, boarded the Boeing 737 MAX from Dallas to the American Airlines Aircraft Maintenance Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the 2nd, a 45-minute voyage. In order to prevent the COVID-19 epidemic, all the people on board wear masks. Reuters said that this is the first time since the global grounding that the aircraft has been carried on people other than civil aviation and regulatory personnel.
At the passenger plane maintenance center, American Airlines personnel briefed the media about their adjustments in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration.
American Airlines plans to use the Boeing 737 MAX to fly one round of flights to and from New York and Miami every day on December 29, which will become the first civil aviation operator to resume flying this model since the plane was grounded in March 2019.
Reuters quoted industry insiders as reporting that Boeing will launch intensive public relations publicity for the return of the 737 MAX. “As always, we are working closely with regulators and customers around the world to safely return the (737 MAX) fleet to commercial operations,” a Boeing spokesperson said.
Some families of the victims of the Boeing 737 MAX crash still think that the model of passenger plane is unsafe and express dissatisfaction with American Airlines’s plan to reuse this model. The father of British citizen Zippola Kuria died in the above-mentioned air crash. She believes that Boeing and the FAA should show the relevant documents to the public on what changes they have made and how the 737 MAX has passed the test.
She told the Associated Press: “I think Boeing is using the media to gain public trust, rather than relying on itself to win trust. I’m disgusted by American Airlines’ willingness to cooperate with (Boeing). They are more concerned about profits and corporate interests than the personal safety of consumers.”
Lion Air Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines crashed a Boeing 737 MAX8 in October 2018 and last March, respectively, killing a total of 346 people. Subsequently, countries grounded 737 MAX passenger planes one after another.
