Canada, U.S. won’t ground Boeing Max 8 fleet

Canadian and American airlines are among the few carriers still flying the Boeing 737 Max 8 jet involved in the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people on Sunday, with aviation authorities around the world grounding the majority of the fleet after its second mass-fatality crash in less than five months.

Regulators and airlines in the European Union, India, United Arab Emirates and Australia grounded and/or banned the twoyear-old model from their skies on Tuesday, a day after China, Ethiopia and Indonesian parked the planes as a precautionary measure.

Transport Canada and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration have thus far declined to ground Boeing ’s Washington-state manufactured planes until they receive more information from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the crash. Canada’s transport minister Marc Garneau said he is evaluating evidence in “real time,” but the government’s stance had not changed by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Still, Air Canada, which operates 24 of the jets, had to cancel flights from Halifax and St. John’s to London on Tuesday and Wednesday to obey the suspension by the U.K.’S Civil Aviation Authority.

In response to the growing number of countries grounding the plane, a reaction that will cost millions of dollars, Boeing issued a statement reiterating its “full confidence” in the 737 Max 8 fleet, even though it announced overnight that it plans to upgrade its flight control software.

While the majority of the 50-some carriers operating roughly 350 of the aircraft suspended the model from operations, its largest customers — Air Canada, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines — kept flying the plane.

So did Canada’s Westjet Airlines Ltd. and Sunwing Airlines, which operate 13 and four of the jets respectively. In statements, Air Canada and Westjet stood behind the safety of the aircraft.

But some passengers are still concerned, with many expressing their reservations about the jet on social media. Flight Centre travel agency told The Canadian Press that the airlines aren’t waiving change fees for customers seeking to rebook their flights on other aircraft.

Both planes crashed within minutes of take off. While the crash’s cause remains unknown, investigators have retrieved the black box.