MAX - Kjøper Boeing seg ro? - Curt Lewis

Boeing to invest $1 billion in global safety drive: sources SEATTLE/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) is planning an initial investment of around $1 billion into industry-wide pilot development as part of a long-term initiative to reduce risks like those faced by the crew in two 737 MAX crashes, people familiar with the matter said. The embattled planemaker is trying to rebuild trust and cooperation with airlines, passengers and regulators around the world after the 737 MAX was grounded in March, following crashes in which a total of 346 people died. Details of the company's "Global Aviation Safety" initiative remain under wraps due to delays in returning the 737 MAX to service, as attention focuses on changes to cockpit software that investigators say played a major part in the two crashes. Boeing will launch the pilot development project after regulators approve changes to 737 MAX software and training and the plane resumes flights, one of the people familiar with the matter said. The company currently expects that to happen in the United States by year-end. The plane is likely to return to service in Europe during the first quarter of 2020, the head of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said earlier this week. The pilot project spending budget, people familiar with it said, will be in addition to the more than $8 billion in costs from compensation to airlines for delayed aircraft deliveries and lower production tied to the 737 MAX grounding. The training initiative is still being developed and will be rolled out over years, one of the people said. While costs are expected to rise over time, the effort may overlap with future aircraft programs. "It will involve significant funds to raise standards around the world and requires Boeing putting its own money in," said another person familiar with the project. Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg was accused by U.S. lawmakers in back-to-back hearings last week of placing profits over those safety standards, a charge Boeing denies. Muilenburg said Boeing would help "build a talent pipeline" of pilots and invest heavily in the pilot-machine interface or fight deck for the next generation, but gave few details. A Boeing spokesman declined additional comment. Part of Boeing's investments will include improving aviation infrastructure, such as air traffic and flight simulation systems, a third person with knowledge of the plans said. It is also considering whether to develop new training materials or methods for various career stages, and fund training centers or recruitment efforts, the people said. Boeing could also create a data-sharing network on aircraft design with global regulators, one of the people said, in a bid to improve outside knowledge of its aircraft technology and operations. The head of the EASA told Reuters in a recent interview that it would demand more data when deciding whether to certify future jets. PILOT SHORTFALL Outlines of the new investment were drawn up in the wake of the crashes as Boeing executives acknowledged that stall-prevention software known as MCAS confused the pilots due to an overwhelming workload, the people said. Investigations have raised questions over whether that was in part due to faulty assumptions about the hazards involved, leading to a design that placed unrealistic demands on pilots. Investigators and global regulators have also pinpointed concerns about certification and training. Boeing says it followed industry practice on reaction times. Experts say that Boeing, as the largest planemaker in the world, and its regulator, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, have played a key role in shaping global standards around aircraft design and operations. Even before the crashes, the aircraft industry was bracing for a staffing shortfall of 1.5 million aircraft technicians and pilots over the next 20 years. Both Boeing and Europe's Airbus (AIR.PA) have already launched beginner training programs to help ease the shortages. The crashes have also sped up a rethink of safety needs in emerging markets, where demand for new jets is driving a huge share of Boeing's business. But airlines face gaps in regulation and infrastructure. Safety experts have voiced concerns that the sheer growth of aviation has lowered the bar for the skills required to enter training, adding pressure for cockpit and training improvements. "There is a large generation of pilots that will be needed over the next 20 years and we need to be thinking about designing our airplanes for that next generation," Muilenburg said at the hearing last week. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-737max-pilots/boeing-to-invest-1-billion-in-global-safety-drive-sources-idUSKBN1XG1R8 Back to Top

Grounded Boeing jet hits another pothole in path to return FILE - In this May 8, 2019, file photo workers stand near a Boeing 737 MAX 8 jetliner being built for American Airlines prior to a test flight in Renton, Wash. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker says his airline is feeling more confident that its grounded Boeing 737 Max jets will soon be approved to fly again. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) DALLAS (AP) - Regulators are asking Boeing to revise documentation of its proposed fixes to software on the 737 Max jet, and the company said Wednesday that it is too early to know whether the request will further delay the return of the grounded plane. Boeing says it is in the final stages of making fixes to the Max, which has been grounded eight months after two crashes that killed 346 people. The CEO of American Airlines, a major Boeing customer, said he is growing more confident that the Max will soon be approved to fly again. Regulators began reviewing Boeing's technical documentation within the last week, and the audit has not been completed. The review involves specifications for software to use a second flight-control computer, not just one, on all flights. Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the MCAS documentation was presented in a format used in the past, but regulators want it in a different form, and the company is doing that. He said the company is continuing to work with FAA and other regulators while the audit is being conducted. "It's too early to speculate on how this might affect the schedule" for returning the Max to service, Johndroe said. Boeing has already taken months longer than expected to make fixes to the plane, but it still aims for Federal Aviation Administration approval of its changes before the end of the year. The most important upgrade deals with software in a flight-control system called MCAS. Before both accidents, a faulty sensor triggered MCAS and caused it to push the plane's nose down; pilots were unable to regain control. Pilots were not told about MCAS until after the first accident - it was not described in pilot manuals for the Max. Boeing assumed that pilots would use longstanding procedures for handling a nose-down pitch of the plane even if they didn't know what caused it. "We build those manuals to try to train the pilots on how to respond to the effects of failures rather than diagnose failures," Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said Wednesday at a New York Times conference. A day earlier, Boeing Chairman David Calhoun said Muilenburg volunteered to refuse a bonus in 2019 and stock awards until the Max is back in full service, which Calhoun said would take at least a year. Muilenburg said he will forgo "tens of millions of dollars ultimately" to take personal responsibility. Several relatives of passengers who died in the crashes have said Muilenburg should resign, a move the CEO has resisted. Meanwhile, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said nothing is certain about the Max's return, "but we feel a lot better about the fact that indeed the aircraft is going to get certified sometime in the near future. When it does, we will be ready." Parker said at an investor conference in Chicago that he based his prediction on discussions American has held with Boeing and the FAA. American is already selling flights on five of its Max jets as early as Jan. 15. Southwest Airlines is being more conservative, keeping the Max out of its schedule until Feb. 8. Senior Airline Executives Vow to Fly on Boeing 737 Max Planes to Prove Their Safety to Passengers When the controversial aircraft is cleared, airline officials will take demonstration flights. Airlines plan to conduct their own tests on the ill-fated Boeing 737 MAX once federal regulators certify the plane is safe to resume service, according to reports. Carriers who fly the 737 MAX - American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines all fly the planes in the U.S. - plan to conduct demonstration flights with senior company officials and no commercial passengers on board to show customers it is safe to fly, according to The Wall Street Journal. Boeing hopes regulators will approve the software fixes as well as new pilot training plans in the coming weeks. "We look forward to supporting our airline customers, their pilots and flight attendants as the MAX returns to commercial service," a Boeing spokesman told the WSJ. "Restoring the trust of the traveling public in the safety of the 737 MAX once it's recertified is our top priority." The 737 MAX planes have been grounded around the world since mid-March following a pair of fatal crashes that killed 346 people. In October 2018, a Lion Air jet crashed into the Java Sea off Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board. And then in March, an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed, killing 157 people. American Airlines expects to start flying the 737 MAX jets by Jan. 16, and Southwest Airlines has pulled the planes through at least Feb. 8, according to both airlines. United Airlines has taken the jets off their schedule through January as well, according to Fox Business. European regulators are planning to conduct their own test flights that are expected to be even more detailed, potentially delaying the return of the 737 MAX at airports across the pond by several weeks, the WSJ reported. Meanwhile, a group representing American Airlines flight attendants sent a letter to Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg last week requesting a say in determining if the planes are safe to fly again, Fox Business reported. And the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association filed a lawsuit against Boeing for allegedly lying about the safety of the jets, asking for $100 million. While it's not clear exactly when the jets will be approved to resume service, once they're in the air again, it will undoubtedly have an impact on consumers. In fact, analysts predict it could cause a drastic reduction in airfare prices.