Boeing's Fixes to 737 MAX Not Likely to Get FAA Approval Until February--Update
December 12 2019 - 4:47PM
Dow Jones News
By Andrew Tangel and Andy Pasztor
The global grounding of Boeing Co.'s 737 MAX is set to stretch
to nearly a year as regulators expressed concern that the U.S.
plane maker set unrealistic expectations for the jetliner's return
to passenger service.
The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to approve fixes
to a MAX flight-control system and related pilot training in
February, about two months beyond what Boeing recently envisioned,
according to people familiar with the matter. That means the
troubled airliner might not carry passengers in the U.S. until much
later in the spring.
The protracted grounding of the MAX following a second crash of
the plane in Ethiopia last March is costing Boeing and its airline
customers billions of dollars and disrupting airline passengers'
travel plans. The latest delay is likely to ratchet up pressure on
Boeing executives as they consider whether to further cut or even
halt MAX production at the company's 737 factory in Renton,
Wash.
The latest delay arises as FAA Administrator Steve Dickson
pushed back against what the agency described as Boeing's overly
optimistic projections for when the MAX would win approval to
re-enter passenger service, according to an email sent to lawmakers
by the FAA's legislative office and reviewed by The Wall Street
Journal.
"The administrator is concerned that Boeing continues to pursue
a return-to-service schedule that is not realistic due to delays
that have accumulated for a variety of reasons," the email said.
"More concerning, the administrator wants to directly address the
perception that some of Boeing's public statements have been
designed to force FAA into taking quicker action."
Mr. Dickson met with Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg in
Washington, D.C., on Thursday. The administrator's message,
according to the email, was to convey that the agency and
manufacturer "must take the time to get this process right."
One of the people familiar with the FAA's plans said the
approval could slip into March, in part because of the regulator's
aim to brief their international counterparts before ungrounding
the U.S. MAX fleet.
"We will work with the FAA to support their requirements and
their timeline as we work to safely return the Max to service in
2020," Boeing said Thursday.
In early November, Boeing said it expected the FAA to lift its
flight ban in mid-December and approve related pilot training in
January, leading U.S. airlines to plan on resuming flights on the
MAX in March. Southwest Airlines Co. is likely to remove the MAX
from passenger schedules through at least early April, a
spokeswoman for the Dallas carrier's pilot union said. American
Airlines Group Inc. said it will omit the aircraft from its
schedules through April 6.
Southwest and Boeing said Thursday that they have reached an
agreement to compensate the airline for some of the damage from the
grounding. American and United Airlines Holdings Inc. have said
they want to wait until the MAX is back in service to conclude
negotiations with Boeing.
Earlier on Thursday, China's aviation regulator, the first to
ground the MAX after the crash in Ethiopia, said it has concerns
about the reliability and security of Boeing's proposed changes to
the aircraft. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has set
its own requirements for the aircraft to be recertified for flight
in the country, including a training program for pilots and a clear
plan to avoid future incidents on the MAX.
--Alison Sider contributed to this article.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com and Andy Pasztor
at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 12, 2019 16:32 ET (21:32 GMT)
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