HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT Bouncing back? IAG’s big-ticket pledge couldn’t have come soon enough — or, apparently, with more enthusiasm. During a press conference at the Paris Air Show, CEO Willie Walsh hailed Boeing as “the brand that I’ve worked with for years. And it’s a brand that I trust.” The former 737 pilot also offered another, and perhaps even stronger, endorsement: “I would get on board a Max tomorrow.” Such praise from the chief of the world’s sixth-largest airline group could prove crucial to Boeing, though some analysts suggest Walsh’s bet is safer than it seems. That’s because no new jets would be delivered before 2023, giving Boeing plenty of time to win regulatory approval. Meanwhile, the company has also snagged commitments from Korean Air and Air Lease Corporation, worth a collective $7.8 billion, for its 787 Dreamliner. … or maybe not. Despite claims by Boeing that it finished updating the faulty Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), software implicated in both crashes, it’s unclear when the 737 Max will actually get the regulatory thumbs-up. After one Federal Aviation Administration official claimed this month that the plane would be airborne by December, the agency promptly corrected him, saying it has “no timetable.” Then came a Wall Street Journal report saying the FAA’s review has been hobbled by concerns over whether the average pilot is strong enough to turn an emergency crank on the plane to stabilize it. Even more damning was former US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger — famous for landing a plane in New York’s Hudson River — telling a U.S. House subcommittee this week the 737 Max “was fatally flawed.” Meanwhile, federal authorities are also quietly probing whether criminal conduct was a factor. Concerns heard ‘round the world. For their part, European pilots have heaped pressure on the European Aviation Safety Agency to review the 737 Max with total transparency. That means cutting back the involvement of manufacturers in the certification process, a detail that attracted scrutiny back in the U.S. following the Ethiopian Airlines crash, the second fatal disaster, in March. Last month, European Cockpit Association President Jon Horne said this was “critical to regaining credibility among our community.” In China, meanwhile, more than a dozen airlines are reportedly demanding compensation from Boeing for losses in excess of $500 million after the country grounded the world’s largest national fleet of 737s. It’s up to the boss. All eyes are now trained on Muilenburg, who has apologized twice to the families who lost loved ones. And on the eve of this week’s Paris Air Show, he admitted that Boeing failed to properly alert regulators and airlines about the absence of a cockpit warning light in most 737 models, which may have alerted pilots to the software error implicated in both crashes. One Yale business professor suggested that the 55-year-old’s “engineer’s personality” has hurt Boeing, while others say his hands-on, technical-oriented approach has been useful when meeting customers, plant workers and pilots. Either way, critics are demanding the company, under Muilenburg’s leadership, be more proactive and explicit about the changes it makes. More planes, more problems. It’s not just the 737 Max that’s under scrutiny: Airline pilots have also reportedly expressed concern over the safety of the 787 after detecting a glitch in its fire-fighting system. The planemaker alerted airlines operating the jet that a flame-extinguishing mechanism in the engine has failed in a “small number” of cases — but the FAA has decided against grounding it. |
