Aircraft regulators join to coordinate return of the Boeing 737 Max
Officials seeking way through volatile politics surrounding the aircraft
Four of the world’s leading aircraft regulators have agreed in principle to coordinate in restoring Boeing’s 737 Max to service once they’re confident that technical updates and new training meet safety standards.
The tentative pact is an attempt to avoid the fractious approach taken in grounding the jet after two deadly crashes, people familiar with the discussions said. Officials from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration have had discussions with their counterparts in Europe, Canada and Brazil and came away believing there is consensus on the need to act together to restore public trust in the world’s aviation-safety system.
The rising sense of cooperation suggests that other leading regulatory agencies are gaining confidence in the U.S. process for assessing Boeing’s fix. A renewed convergence would mark a reversal from what airlines and even Boeing’s top rival have feared -- a disorderly approach to recertifying the Max that would further strain ties between the FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency, the global standard-bearers for safety.
“We’ve been working, all of us in the industry across borders, to some degree, to get the rest of the regulators in all the other countries to return that aircraft to flight at roughly the same time,” Oscar Munoz, Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines, said last week at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “It’s not going to look good if one brings it up and no one else does.”
The FAA’s associate administrator for aviation safety, Ali Bahrami, recently met in Europe with his counterparts at other agencies, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The FAA believes that the other countries are ready to act closely with the U.S. to lift the grounding, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the talks.