New Delhi: Boeing’s announcement on Monday that it expects the grounded 737 MAX to resume commercial services in January, as it works to address questions from regulators over its documentation for revisions to the plane’s software, has met with scepticism in Indian aviation circles.
India is unlikely to allow the 737 MAX aircraft to start flying in the Indian skies from January next year. “It is quite unlikely as we have a lot of ground to cover,” a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
It remains to be seen whether the European aviation regulator will allow the aircraft to fly in its territory, merely based on a certification given by the US authorities. Earlier this year, the European Aviation Safety Agency had said that it would conduct its own tests before allowing the MAX to fly in its skies.
Even as the manufacturer is moving ahead with its plans, pilots in India have expressed their doubts about whether the MAX can be re-certified to fly within the next seven weeks.
According to some pilots, there was little information about the new design. While one of the pilots commented that Boeing had given itself a very short deadline, another said that they only had the manufacturer’s claim that it had sorted out problems with the aircraft design. He, however, added that he would not be surprised if the process was completed in the first quarter of next year.
Captain P.P. Singh, Senior Vice-President, JetLite, pointed out that at first glance, it appeared that there was a gap between the timelines being projected by Boeing and its major US-based 737 Max customers, including Southwest Airlines. Whereas Boeing claims that it was possible for deliveries to commence by next month, Southwest and American Airlines had pushed the scheduled operation of their MAX aircraft to March 2020.
12/11/19 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line
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India is unlikely to allow the 737 MAX aircraft to start flying in the Indian skies from January next year. “It is quite unlikely as we have a lot of ground to cover,” a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
It remains to be seen whether the European aviation regulator will allow the aircraft to fly in its territory, merely based on a certification given by the US authorities. Earlier this year, the European Aviation Safety Agency had said that it would conduct its own tests before allowing the MAX to fly in its skies.
Even as the manufacturer is moving ahead with its plans, pilots in India have expressed their doubts about whether the MAX can be re-certified to fly within the next seven weeks.
According to some pilots, there was little information about the new design. While one of the pilots commented that Boeing had given itself a very short deadline, another said that they only had the manufacturer’s claim that it had sorted out problems with the aircraft design. He, however, added that he would not be surprised if the process was completed in the first quarter of next year.
Captain P.P. Singh, Senior Vice-President, JetLite, pointed out that at first glance, it appeared that there was a gap between the timelines being projected by Boeing and its major US-based 737 Max customers, including Southwest Airlines. Whereas Boeing claims that it was possible for deliveries to commence by next month, Southwest and American Airlines had pushed the scheduled operation of their MAX aircraft to March 2020.
12/11/19 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line
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