Summary
- Boeing has resumed deliveries of 737 MAX aircraft to China.
- A China Southern Airlines 737 MAX departed from Seattle for Honolulu, suggesting a delivery flight.
- The US FAA, nevertheless, has barred Boeing from expanding MAX production until its quality control issues are resolved.
A Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in China Southern Airlines livery was seen leaving the plane manufacturer’s Seattle facility on January 24. China has not received a brand new MAX plane in a protracted time, but the most recent development suggests that Boeing has now began pushing out these jets from its factory for the country’s airlines.
Delivery flight
Editor-in-chief of The Air Current, Jon Ostrower, identified on X (formerly referred to as Twitter) that a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was assigned a China Southern Airlines flight number on January 24. This suggested that Boeing was preparing to send this plane to China, officially resuming deliveries of the kind to the Asian nation.
Indeed, a fast scan of the flight tracking app Flightradar24 revealed that the aircraft (registered as B-20C8) had departed Seattle at 11:55 on Wednesday and arrived in Honolulu at 16:42 local time after a flight of virtually seven hours.
Photo: aappp | Shutterstock
By October last 12 months, just one Chinese registered 737 MAX was grounded. Registered B-1261 and operated by Shanghai Airlines, it was parked at Taiyuan Wusu International Airport. But Flightradar24 revealed that the aircraft finally returned to business service on November 10. And a couple of weeks ago, Boeing China’s Chief Executive Officer Liu Qing announced that all China-operated 737 MAX aircraft resumed service in 2023.
Regarding fresh MAX deliveries, things were looking up not too way back, with reports that Boeing was preparing to deliver its first MAX plane to China after 4 years. However the recent Alaska Airlines midair blowout incident earlier in January had the potential to derail any of those plans. Nevertheless, the recent China Southern MAX delivery flight suggests that China is finally ready to just accept the jet again.
Photo: Thiago B Trevisan | Shutterstock
Barred from increasing MAX output
Meanwhile, Reuters has reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration has barred Boeing from expanding the production of the MAX aircraft in light of recent quality issues. The aircraft type has already faced several production issues up to now, and the most recent FAA directive could further add to its list of growing problems. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker was quoted as saying,
NTSB Sends Human Performance Team To Boeing 737 MAX Factory
The NTSB will proceed its probe into potential human error at Boeing’s Renton factor, with a second visit planned for Thursday.
It stays to be seen how the most recent FAA order will affect not only airlines around the globe but in addition Boeing’s overall balance sheet this 12 months.
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