Flight International – 11 June 2019

THIS WEEK

flightglobal.com 11-17 June 2019 | Flight International | 11

Jet’s demise

sees SpiceJet

running hot

Air Transport P

A

lack of harmony between
civil aviation regulators over
when to lift the grounding of the
Boeing 737 Max will further com-
plicate the plans of international
carriers to restore the troubled
aircraft to revenue service.
Speaking at the IATA World Air
Transport Summit in Seoul, Goh
Choon Phong, chief executive of
Singapore Airlines (SIA), said that
while carriers in large countries
like the USA will be able to oper-
ate extensive domestic route net-
works once their national authori-
ties lift the Max flight ban, SIA
carriers do not have “the luxury”.

“Everything I operate is interna-
tional,” he says. “Beyond the ap-
provals of authorities in Singa-
pore, we would need approvals of
other countries we operate to.”
SIA subsidiary SilkAir has six
737-8s on the ground and would

require a “minimum viable set of

countries” that permit the Max to

fly in order to return the narrow-

body to service, says Goh.

Uncertainty remains over when

the global grounding on the 737

Max will be lifted. The US Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA),

which was the last major regulator

to suspend operations with the

type, has been criticised for not

taking action earlier and concerns

continue to linger over whether

the regulator allowed the re-en-

gined 737 to be rushed through

certification.

Carsten Spohr, chief executive

of Lufthansa – which does not op-

erate the Max – indicates that

while the FAA may allow it to re-

turn to service, other regulators

might not follow suit so quickly.

“It would be difficult to explain

to passengers that the aircraft is

safe in some parts of the world but

not safe elsewhere,” he says.

The aftermath of the 737 Max

grounding has upended long-held

assumptions over the role played

by the FAA in contributing to the

industry’s safety record, says Jet-

Blue Airways chief executive

Robin Hayes. “It’s an issue bigger

than the Max. People start to ques-

tion the regulatory framework that

has been largely successful in pro-

moting a safer industry,” he says. ■

SUSPENSION GHIM-LAY YEO SEOUL

Regulatory rift complicates Max return

Differences around the globe over when aircraft can resume services will affect international flights, say major carriers

OPERATIONS OLIVER CLARK SEOUL

Ethiopian will be last to fly 737-8 again

Ethiopian Airlines will be the final

carrier globally to resume flights

with the Boeing 737 Max once it

has been certificated for return.

Tewolde Gebremariam,

Ethiopian chief executive, says

that the African airline will only

restart flights with the type “after

the regulators decide and when

we see airlines start flying it”, add-

ing: “We will be the last one.”

Three months after the 10

March accident involving flight

ET302, Gebremariam says it is

too early to make a judgement as

the investigation into the crash is

“still a work in progress”.

“Let’s see how they [the US

Federal Aviation Administration]

are going to handle it. Let’s see

the complete solution and also

the certification, let’s also see if

they can convince the other regu-

lators – then we can only make an

opinion,” he says.

He adds that Ethiopian has

been a “long-time, Boeing-only

customer” in the past, and while

he would like to “maintain” that

relationship, the “very tragic” Max

crash will have “its own impact”.

At present, the Addis Ababa-

based carrier has no plans to alter

its pilot-training programme, says

Gebremariam. He also asserts

that the flightcrew killed in the

crash will ultimately be exoner-

ated by the investigation. ■

Airlines like Southwest may reopen domestic routes after grounding

AirTeamImages

“It would be difficult

to explain that the

aircraft is safe in some

parts of the world but

not safe elsewhere”

Carsten Spohr
Chief executive, Lufthansa

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