Boeing 737 Max Set To Return To Service

Southwest pilots union says not so fast

Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 02:28 PM ET

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Five grounded 737 Max airplanes at the company’s Renton, Washington, facility. The 737 Max has been grounded for nearly eight months after a pair of fatal accidents tied to the plane’s MCAS stability augmentation system. Photo by Thiago B Trevisan/Shutterstock.com

Key Takeaways:

Boeing anticipates the 737 Max will be ready for flight around mid-December, with additional training materials approved approximately a month later, following its grounding due to two fatal accidents.
The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) expresses concern that Boeing is rushing the Max's return to service, citing Boeing's own statements about potential production line closure if the plane isn't re-approved soon.
The FAA has affirmed its independent role in evaluating the sufficiency of Boeing's proposed software updates and pilot training, rather than deferring to Boeing's representatives.
SWAPA has initiated a lawsuit against Boeing, claiming $115 million in lost wages for its pilots due to the protracted grounding of the 737 Max.

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Five Boeing 737 Max Planes — Five grounded 737 Max airplanes at the company’s Renton, Washington, facility. The 737 Max has been grounded for nearly eight months after a pair of fatal accidents tied to the plane’s MCAS stability augmentation system. Photo by Thiago B Trevisan/Shutterstock.com

Boeing says that its 737 Max jetliner, grounded since last March after a pair of fatal accidents that killed 346 people, will be ready to fly again around the middle of December. It added that it expected additional training materials to be approved about a month after that.

But the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) worries that Boeing is pushing the Max back into service too soon, citing as evidence statements that Boeing has made about the impact of the grounding of the Max. Boeing has hundreds of Max aircraft parked pending re-approval, and it has said it might be forced to close its production line if the plane is not returned to service soon.

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The FAA for its part is reminding the public that the FAA and not Boeing designated representatives will be evaluating the “sufficiency of Boeing’s proposed software updates and pilot training,” according to Reuters Business News.

There is no love lost between Boeing and SWAPA, which represents almost 10,000 pilots. Last month the union sued Boeing, alleging that the grounding of the Max cost pilots at SWAPA alone $115 million in lost wages.