Air Canada won’t be flying 737 Max jets until June 30
Air Canada said on Wednesday it has removed Boeing’s 737 Max from its flight schedule until June 30, 2020, a day after the U.S. plane maker warned the grounded jet would not win regulatory approval until mid-year.
The Canadian airline, which has 24 Max aircraft in its fleet, said the decision was based on operational considerations after Boeing revealed that the Max’s return to service would be further delayed.
The final decision on the aircraft’s return would be based on the company’s safety assessment, following a green light from the government and approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transport Canada, Air Canada said.
The country’s biggest carrier had previously said it would not fly the Max until Feb. 14, 2020.
Boeing on Tuesday flagged potential developments in the Max certification process and regulatory scrutiny on its flight control system.
Following the announcement, Canada’s Westjet Airlines said it would remove the Max from its schedule through June 24.
Expecting approval in the first quarter, American Airlines Group Inc, United Airlines Holdings Inc and Southwest Airlines Co had scheduled Max flights in early
June, but are now expected to extend their timelines.
The 737 Max has been grounded worldwide since mid-march, as Boeing updates its flight control software at the centre of two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that together killed 346 people within a span of five months.
Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun told reporters on Wednesday the U.S. plane maker expects to resume 737 Max production months before its forecasted mid-year return to service and said it did not plan to suspend or cut its dividend.
The company announced a production halt in December, when the global grounding of the fast-selling 737 Max following two deadly crashes in five months looked set to last into mid-2020.
Calhoun said the company is not considering scrapping the Max and expects it will continue to fly for a generation. He also said it will not launch a marketing campaign to get customers to get back on 737 Max planes. He also disclosed Boeing is starting with a “clean sheet of paper” on a New Midsize Airplane but it is not clear if the company is scrapping the existing design.
The company said on Tuesday it now expects regulators to approve the plane’s return to service in the middle of the year. Calhoun said he did not see recent issues raised about wiring or software as “serious problems.”