boeing 737 MAX

Tag Archives for boeing 737 MAX.

The CEO of Emirates Now Leases Planes To American Airlines

by Gary Leff on December 17, 2020

Dec 17 2020

Now that airlines have been getting direct subsidies from the U.S. government during the pandemic, and they’re on the cusp of more, they no longer oppose airline subsidies.

One of the arguments they deployed during their campaign against Mideast airlines, though, is that the Gulf carriers weren’t just subsidized by their governments but their fortunes were too intertwined with those of the state. They pointed out that the CEO of Emirates, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, is a member of Dubai’s ruling family and in addition to founding the airline also serves as President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority.

American Airlines Will Take Delivery Of 21 New Planes In 10 Weeks, Add Seats To Planes In 2021

by Gary Leff on December 14, 2020

Dec 14 2020

At the end of last week American Airlines President Robert Isom held a town hall meeting with pilots, a recording of which has been reviewed by View From The Wing. Isom outlined the airline’s aircraft fleet plans for 2021.

American Airlines Is Running Five Employee Boeing 737 MAX Flights To Nowhere

by Gary Leff on November 29, 2020

Nov 29 2020

The Boeing 737 MAX is officially allowed to fly again in commercial service. A lot of things need to take place before that happens, but while Southwest Airlines plans to take 4-5 months to get the plane back in the air, American Airlines is far more aggressive – planning to fly it again on December 29th.

Employees of American Airlines and its wholly-owned regional carriers (Enjoy, Piedmont, and PSA) and of the American Airlines Credit Union are being invited to take one of five ‘flights to nowhere’ on the Boeing 737 MAX before it re-enters commercial service at the end of December.

Boeing 737 MAX Likely Ungrounded In October, Flying Passengers In December

by Gary Leff on August 31, 2020

Aug 31 2020

At the end of last week American Airlines told its pilots that based on conversations with the FAA and Administrator Stephen Dickson that they “see the finish line, it’s making good progress” bringing the Boeing 737 MAX into service. Their “targeted timeframe… [is] end of October-ish for the ungrounding to occur” for the aircraft. American intends to fly passengers in commercial service with the MAX starting in the second half of December.

The Crazy Way Canada And Europe Have To Re-Certify The Boeing 737 MAX In The Covid Era

by Gary Leff on August 28, 2020

Aug 28 2020

Canada and Europe are doing their own test flights to re-certify the Boeing 737 MAX, which Boeing now refuses to call the MAX, instead of just relying on the FAA.

But the U.S. wouldn’t let Canadian and European inspectors into the U.S. to test the plane with Boeing – because coronavirus (the regulators might bring the virus into the U.S.). So regulators get picked up in Vancouver by Boeing, flown to Beoing field and back.

Boeing Rebrands The 737 MAX

by Gary Leff on August 19, 2020

Aug 19 2020

Boeing announced the sale today of two 737 MAX aircraft. That’s a big deal because the MAX, in service only since fall 2018, has been grounded since March 2019 – and because airlines generally are conserving cash rather than spending money to buy planes.

The announcement, though, is most notable for the verbal jujitsu Boeing uses as they give the plane a new name: 737-8, which is either not meant to be confused – or meant to be confused – with the older 737-800.

American Airlines President: Boeing 737 MAX Could Fly Again In December

by Gary Leff on July 25, 2020

Jul 25 2020

I’ve been expecting the Boeing 737 MAX to return to the skies before the end of the year, and it’s looking a bit touch and go whether it’ll re-enter commercial service by then. However American Airlines President Robert Isom told employees of the airline on Thursday that they currently expect the plane to be approved to fly by the FAA in October and back in the air flying for commercial airlines in December.

American May Reject Boeing 737 MAXs Due To Inability To Find Financing

by Gary Leff on July 10, 2020

Jul 10 2020

The question I have is what covenants were agreed to – aside from usual cancellation penalties or costs to defer deliveries – when American entered into a settlement at the beginning of the year with Boeing over the MAX?

At the time the value of the settlement was estimated at around $600 million although the form and timing of payments weren’t clear. If the settlement included conditions including acceptance of future deliveries, that could explain the airline’s willingness to do so, and could mean rejecting deliveries now would be even more costly than usual.

Boeing Says The 737 MAX Won’t Be Re-Certified Until Summer. American Says It Will Fly June 5. How Can That Be?

by Gary Leff on February 12, 2020

Feb 12 2020

Boeing projected recently that re-certifying the 737 MAX will take until summer. Once it gets government approvals airlines still have to bring planes out of storage and prepare them for service, and they have to train pilots on new procedures – which will take time in part because of a limited number of available simulators.

And yet American Airlines and other carriers have the plane scheduled back into service in June. CEO Doug Parker updated employees on progress bringing the 737 MAX back into service during last week’s Crew News monthly question and answer session.

Those Embarrassing Boeing Emails Don’t Tell Us Anything New (Or Anything At All)

by Gary Leff on January 10, 2020

Jan 10 2020

A series of embarrassing emails have come out, following embarrassing text messages which were revealed in the fall. Some perspective is needed here, though.

Companies are frequently undone by emails. DNC emails certainly didn’t help Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Presidential election. Emails hurt Microsoft when the government prosecuted an anti-trust case against it for monopolizing the web browser market (gosh if everyone knew then what we know now). It amazes me that companies store past non-work related emails.