Suddenly, there was optimism in the air.
After the Boeing 737 Max[1] had been grounded for almost two years, the Federal Aviation Administration declared last week that it's fit to fly. Again.
American Airlines, rarely an airline with excessive touchy-feely qualities, had already anticipated this. It had scheduled the plane[2] from December 29 on the Miami-La Guardia route. If you look carefully, the airline openly declares this flight will be operated on a Max.
Yet here was a plane on which 346 people had lost their lives. The so-called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System was software that mistakenly pushed the nose of the plane down, with pilots unable to switch the system off as it sent the plane into a dive.
Apparently, everything is fine now.
However, as it gave the go-ahead the FAA admitted[3] that when it originally certified the plane it simply didn't see the imperfections in the software. It now blames "fragmented communication between the flight test and operational sides within Boeing and between Boeing and the FAA." Now, it's all good. Allegedly.
Not everyone is quite so confident.
Pilots at American and Southwest are concerned[4] that the training program outlined isn't good enough. They worry that pilots may not remember all the steps they have to take to keep the plane flying safely in the event of an emergency.
Then there are the authorities in the rest of the world. Usually, they accept the verdict of the authority in the country where the plane is manufactured. Yet regulators in Europe, Brazil and Canada aren't in such a trusting mood about the Max.
Canada's regulator, Transport Canada, offered these bracing words[5]