American Airlines Resumes 737 MAX Passenger Flights -- 4th Update
December 29 2020 - 1:54PM
Dow Jones News
By Andrew Tangel
American Airlines Group Inc. put passengers back on Boeing Co.'s
737 MAX for the first time in the U.S. since the aircraft was
grounded nearly two years ago following two deadly crashes.
American Flight 718 departed Miami International Airport around
10:30 a.m. on Tuesday and landed at New York's LaGuardia Airport at
1:10 p.m. American said the flight was mostly full and that airline
President Robert Isom was among the passengers.
The daily round-trip flights between Miami and New York are the
start of American's plans to gradually add the MAX back into
service. An American spokeswoman said the airline has begun
announcing aircraft types during boarding to make sure passengers
are aware they will be flying on a MAX. American will also alert
passengers if they are suddenly scheduled to fly on a MAX due to a
schedule change, she said.
David Seymour, American's chief operating officer, said
gradually reintroducing the MAX would help build passenger
confidence and give passengers flexibility if they initially prefer
to fly on other aircraft. He said in an interview earlier this
month that American pilots and flight attendants are confident of
the plane's safety.
"We would have never brought the aircraft back if they were not
comfortable," he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and global regulators banned
the MAX from passenger flights in March 2019 following two crashes
in less than five months that together took 346 lives. The FAA
lifted its flight ban last month when it approved a series of
software, hardware and training changes for the jets.
Brazil's GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA was the first airline
in the world to resume MAX passenger service earlier this
month.
United Airlines Holdings Inc. said it plans to reintroduce MAX
flights on Feb. 11 out of hubs in Denver and Houston. Southwest
Airlines Co., which operates an all-737 fleet, is planning to
resume flying passengers on the MAX in March. A spokeswoman said
Southwest hadn't yet officially scheduled flights with the
aircraft.
The spokeswoman said that while a minority of Southwest's
customers have indicated they weren't comfortable flying on a MAX,
the majority of those fliers said they expected to become more
comfortable as the aircraft flies more. Airlines have said they
plan to let passengers uncomfortable with flying on MAX rebook
their flights.
Investigators looking at the MAX crashes in Indonesia and
Ethiopia largely blamed a new flight-control system known as MCAS
for pushing the planes into fatal nosedives. While the MAX was
grounded, Boeing and regulators devised fixes to the system that
added multiple safeguards aimed at preventing it from overpowering
pilots.
Chicago-based Boeing also formulated new pilot training and
revisions to flight manuals, which had previously excluded
information about the flight-control system. Airline pilots must
complete the training, which requires time in a flight simulator,
before flying the MAX.
A Boeing spokesman said the plane maker continues to work with
global regulators and airline customers to support the MAX fleet's
safe return to service around the world.
--Alison Sider contributed to this article.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 29, 2020 13:39 ET (18:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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