Boeing 737 Max, new shutdown: here's why 90 planes are grounded
2021 was supposed to be the year of restart for the Boeing 737 Max. A full 22 months of grounding and then the [...]
United Airlines
Southwest Airlines
American Airlines
Star Alliance
Oneworld
2021 was to be the year of restart for the Boeing 737 Max. As many as 22 months of blockade and then the green light in Europe at the end of January. Just over 60 days have passed since then, and here is a new red alert.
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No accidents this time, considering how Boeing moved well in advance. The company recommended suspending the use of the aircraft, temporarily. A press note addressed to 16 recipients, with reference to a yet unspecified number of means.
Boeing's statement
On April 9, 2021, Boeing issued a press release addressed to 16 customers who currently boast in their fleet of the 737 Max. Reference is made to a potential electrical problem to be addressed. A note arrived in a preemptive manner, in order to verify the possible existence of this specific issue in a given number of 737 Maxes. The reference is to a component of the electrical power system. A critical check before further flight operations.
The press note also highlights how Boeing is currently in contact with the US Federal Aviation Administration to be able to quickly resolve this problem in production: "We are in the process of informing our customers of the specific tail numbers affected by this issue. We will provide them with precise guidance on appropriate corrective actions," they said from Boeing.
How many 737 Maxes have been suspended
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Needless to say, most of the stranded aircraft are active in the United States. Taking a look across the ocean, then, to be affected are predominantly Southwest Airlines, American Airlines e United Airlines (the 3 main operators of the 737 Max) who provided some data, although an exact number is not yet known. The press note released by Boeing resulted in about 70 aircraft stopped and inspected, according to guidelines.
A serious problem for any airline involved, but while American Airlines said it had to submit 17 of its 737 Max aircraft for maintenance, quite different is the impact for Southwest. Indeed, in this case, 30 aircraft were grounded, which represents more than half of the carrier's MAX fleet, a total of 58 vehicles.
Is the 737 Max safe?
The question everyone has been asking for more than a year. Accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia had placed a stigma on Boeing 737 Max aircraft, with the company particularly active in trying to show all of its safety interventions.
Many carriers have decided to cancel their past orders and, in some cases, increase requests. Confidence, however, may be wavering on the passenger front. It is worth noting that the issues are quite different. The failure that led to the 22-month ban was due to the malfunction of a sensor connected to a given software, known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). This had made the aircraft uncontrollable, rendering the interventions of the pilots, who were unable to prevent the aircraft from crashing, useless.
In this case there is no correlation. Boeing clearly specifies this. The vehicles involved and already stopped, about 90 worldwide, were not in use at the time of the blockade imposed by the authorities.
