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European Union grounds Boeing 737 MAX, as a growing cascade of nations follows China’s lead after deadly crashesIn addition to the EU, regulators and airlines in 23 countries have now halted flights by Boeing’s 737 MAX The crisis of confidence was triggered when a brand new Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crashed on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board
“EASA [the European Union Aviation Safety Agency] has decided to suspend all flight operations of the two affected models,” the agency said in a statement, referring to the Boeing Model 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX. The suspension was to go into effect from 7pm Tuesday, GMT.
It was also “suspending all commercial flights performed by third-country operators into, within or out of the EU of the above mentioned models.”
Boeing shares fall for second day, knocking US$25 billion off market value
The “precautionary measure” was “necessary to ensure the safety of passengers”, EASA said.
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The groundings come after an Ethiopian Airlines MAX plane crashed on Sunday, six minutes after take-off, killing all 157 people on board. On October 29 last year, a 737 MAX 8 flown by Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed into the Java Sea, 12 minutes after take-off, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
Before the EU announcement, member states Ireland, Germany, France and the Netherlands were already among the expanding list of countries to have temporarily grounded the 737 MAX, following China’s unprecedented move on Monday to impose such restrictions on domestic carriers.
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority had also said that in the absence of hard evidence through the Ethiopian aircraft’s black boxes, it was grounding the 737 MAX as a precautionary measure.
China’s decision to ground Boeing 737 MAX 8 driven by safety concerns
As of 2.30pm Tuesday, Eastern time, regulators and airlines in a total of 23 countries, plus the EU, had grounded the 737 MAX.
The raft of suspensions contrasted sharply with the more measured response in the United States, where regulators insisted the aircraft was safe to fly.
Most of the 371 MAX jets around the world have now apparently been grounded, with China alone banning flights by almost 100 of the planes operated by its carriers.
Prior to the EU announcement, the following countries had grounded the 737 MAX or banned it from their airspace: Australia, Britain, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman, and Singapore. The following airlines had grounded their 737 MAX fleets: Aeromexico, Brazil’s Gol Airlines, Aerolineas Argentinas, Cayman Airways, South Africa’s Comair, South Korea’s Eastar, Ethiopian Airlines, Icelandair, India’s Jet Airways, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Morocco’s Royal Air Maroc, and Turkish Airlines.
The US and Canada operate the second and third largest MAX fleets, with 72 and 40 aircraft respectively. These planes were still flying as of Tuesday.
Major North American carriers including Southwest Airlines have publicly backed the plane.
Hong Kong’s aviation authority has opted for no action but said it was contacting other airlines flying the plane in and out of the city. They are Russia’s S7 Airlines, which flies from Novosibirsk, India’s SpiceJet from New Delhi, MIAT Mongolian Airlines from Ulan Bator, and Garuda Indonesia from Jakarta. The last two have already stopped flying the 737 MAX. No Hong Kong carrier operates the aircraft.
A China Southern Boeing 737 MAX at Saint Petersburg airport in Russia. Photo: Shutterstock
“This is a temporary suspension while we wait for more information to review the safety risks of continued operations of the Boeing 737 MAX to and from Australia,” said Shane Carmody, CEO of Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority and director of aviation safety.
While no Australian carriers operate the MAX jet, the decision affects foreign carriers; the only two that fly the planes to and from Australia are Fiji Airways and Silk Air, which has stopped on the orders of the Singapore aviation regulator.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said that during the temporary halt of MAX flights it would “gather more information and review the safety risk associated with the continued operation of the Boeing 737 MAX”.
With MAX planes making up a fifth of Silk Air’s 35-strong fleet, the carrier was likely to seek help from Singapore Airlines to accommodate customers.
Meanwhile, Lion Air was said to be switching plane orders to rival manufacturer Airbus as well, after halting deliveries of 737 MAX.
China, the country with the most MAX planes, decided on Monday to stop domestic airlines from flying the aircraft, a move affecting more than a dozen carriers.
Carriers in China with larger fleets will be best placed to mitigate the impact of the suspension.
A brand new 737 MAX 8 crashed on Sunday. Photo: Boeing
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Monday that the jet was airworthy, and the country has not yet taken any action in response to the air disasters.
By 3pm Tuesday Boeing’s shares were down a further 5.5 per cent, following a 5 per cent drop on Monday.
Boeing said a software upgrade would be added to all MAX jets. Photo: AFP
Boeing and the FAA said that a software upgrade in development for several months would be added to all MAX jets in the coming weeks to improve safety.
But the US aviation authority added it would require design changes from Boeing no later than April in relation to the plane’s much criticised Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System. The system has been linked to last year’s Lion Air crash.
“External reports are drawing similarities between this accident and the Lion Air flight 610 accident on October 29, 2018,” the FAA said in a public notice. “However, this investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided with data to draw any conclusion or take any action.”
Albert Lam Kwong-yu, Hong Kong’s civil aviation chief from 1998 to 2004, said Singapore’s decision was likely to be replicated by other authorities.
“I think Singapore’s regulator is very professional,” he said. “They will have run through the procedures before coming to the decision … Singapore is an important aviation centre … and [so] this will have ramifications.”
Additional reporting by Agencies
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