IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac urged global regulators to lift the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX in unison, even while acknowledging that the model’s return to service is still likely a few months away.
De Juniac said May 29 that IATA was strongly hoping for a “comprehensive, consistent and collaborative approach” as certification authorities evaluate whether and how to lift the 737 MAX operations bans that have been in place since mid-March. He made clear that airlines want regulators to pursue “the same timeline” and would find it hard to accept to have the grounding orders lifted at different times.
De Juniac also demanded “full transparency” as to what has been done so far in terms of reviewing changes to the aircraft’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) software that played a role in the Oct. 29, 2018 crash of Lion Air flight 610 and the Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 accident on March 10, 2019. The second accident led to a cascade of uncoordinated flight bans over three days, which left the MAX fleet grounded.
The IATA CEO also said airlines want detailed information about the work that still needs to be done.
He expects a meeting between regulators, its members and Boeing to take place within “five to seven weeks” to get a detailed update on the status of the process. He believes the MAX fleet will remain on the ground for at least another “10 to 12 weeks” If that assumption is correct, the MAX would be back in scheduled service in mid- or late August at the earliest.