US aviation chief says Boeing 737 MAX won't be recertified until 2020

21:25, December 11, 2019

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  Boeing decides to halt 737 MAX production in January

  (Photo: AP)SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- US airplane giant Boeing Company announced Monday it will temporarily halt production of 737 MAX jets beginning in January after US regulators ruled out any clearance for the troubled planes for flight until next year.Boeing said in a statement that the decision is driven by a number of factors, including the extension of the US regulators certification process into 2020, as well as the uncertainty about the timing and conditions of return to service the 737 MAX airplanes.The US aircraft manufacturer continued the production of the new 737 jets, despite the model being grounded for nine months after two deadly crashes."There are now approximately 400 airplanes in storage," Boeing said, adding that the company will give priority to delivering the stored aircraft following an ongoing evaluation of all circumstances."We believe this decision is least disruptive to maintaining long-term production system and supply chain health," Boeing said.It did not announce any employee layoffs as a result of the suspension decision, saying the workforce related to the 737 MAX production at its final assembly facility in Renton city, Washington State, will be temporarily assigned to other teams in Puget Sound.The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week it would not approve resumed flights of the 737 MAX airplanes until 2020.FAA chief Steve Dickson disclosed that there is no clear timeline for when the 737 Max will be re-certified and that there are 10 to 11 milestones left to complete before it can be approved.Dicksons comments squashed Boeings hope of getting the planes cleared for resumed service before the end of this year.More than 800 jets have been grounded worldwide since mid-March 2019 after investigators found flawed flight control software on the 737 MAX partially responsible for the crashes of two MAX jets in Indonesia and Ethiopia.The two separate fatal incidents killed a tot...

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  Boeing could suspend or cut 737 MAX output: report

  Boeing could on Monday announce whether to further cut or suspend production of its grounded 737 MAX plane, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.File photo: CGTNCiting people familiar with the matter, the Journal said the US firms management increasingly sees a production pause as the most viable option.Boeing had already decided to reduce its production pace from 52 to 42 planes per month after two crashes led authorities around the world to ground the entire 737 MAX fleet in mid-March.Steve Dickson, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, met Thursday with Boeing chief Dennis Muilenburg to express concerns the company was rushing to get the jets back in the air, the agency said.Boeing then acknowledged that the 737 MAX would not return to the skies until next year. The company had repeatedly said it expected approval for the planes to fly again before 2020.Though the MAX has not flown for nine months following the fatal crashes, Boeing has continued production, accumulating months worth of airplanes."We continue to work closely with the FAA and global regulators towards certification and the safe return to service of the MAX," a Boeing spokesperson said when asked for comment by AFP."We will continue to assess production decisions based on the timing and conditions of return to service, which will be based on regulatory approvals and may vary by jurisdiction," the spokesperson added.A halt in production would signal the planes grounding could last longer than previously thought.Global regulators ordered a halt to MAX flights following the deadly Lion Air crash of October 2018 in Indonesia and the Ethiopian Airlines disaster in March, which together killed 346 people.Boeing and the FAA have been under intense scrutiny for their responses to issues with the aircraft, including the flight-handling system involved in both accidents, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS.

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  Boeing chief engineer who defended Max airliner is retiring

  Boeing Commercial Airplanes Vice President and Chief Engineer John Hamilton, testifies during a US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 30, 2019. (File photo: AP)The Boeing engineer who has played a key role in the companys response to the grounding of the 737 Max is retiring.Boeing said Wednesday that John Hamilton planned to retire last year as chief engineer of commercial airplanes, but he stayed on to help get the Max back into service.Hamilton appeared before Congress in October alongside CEO Dennis Muilenburg to defend and explain the design and production of the Max, which has been grounded since March following two deadly crashes.He has spent 35 years at Boeing and served as chief project engineer for several planes including the 737 NG, the version that preceded the Max. He was responsible for engineering design and safety for all Boeing airliners when the company got final approval of the Max from the Federal Aviation Administration.Hamilton was named to his current position in March to deal with the accident investigations and other technical risks, according to the company.He will be replaced by Lynne Hopper, vice president of engineering for Boeings commercial airplanes business.Boeing’s expectations for returning the Max to flight have been set back several times. Boeing engineers began updating flight-control software called MCAS shortly after it was determined to have played a role in the crash of a Lion Air Max off the coast of Indonesia in October 2018. They were still working on the software when an Ethiopian Airlines Max crashed near Addis Ababa in March.The company’s hopes for a quick return to service were dashed in June, when test pilots for the Federal Aviation Administration discovered a separate problem involving flight computers during a session in a flight simulator. The three U.S. airlines that own Max jets — Southwest, American and United — don’t expect them back in t...