The return of the 737 MAX to service has given a boost to Boeing’s first-quarter plane deliveries compared with a year ago, according to company data released Tuesday.
The aviation giant reported 77 commercial plane deliveries in the quarter ending March 31.
That is an increase from the 50 delivered in the year-ago period, but barely half the 149 planes delivered in 2019 before dual crises over the MAX grounding and the Covid-19 travel industry downturn.
US air safety regulators in mid-November cleared the MAX to return to service after a 20-month grounding in the wake of two deadly crashes.
Boeing made upgrades to the MAX plane and pilot training protocols. Recently, Boeing recommended that 16 airlines flying the MAX address a “potential electrical issue” discovered during plane production.
In the first quarter, the 737 accounted for 63 of the 77 commercial planes delivered, including 58 of the MAX model.
Boeing in March also notched a second straight month of net positive orders for the MAX after achieving the milestone in February for the first time since November 2019.
Ethiopia has allowed Boeing 737 Max airplanes back to its airspace, three years after one of its national carrier jets crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa.
All 149 passengers and eight crew members aboard the Ethiopian Airlines flight from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya died.
The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA) said it lifted the ban after being satisfied with improvements in the planes’ design and the airlines’ pilot training programme.
Read also: Delta Airlines records $783m loss in first quarter 2022
China’s aviation regulator in early December provided airlines with a list of fixes required before its return to commercial flying, which it predicted would occur by the beginning of this year. So far, however, there have been only test flights.
China Eastern has grounded all 223 of its 737-800 planes as a precaution while the crash is investigated. Chinese authorities are leading the investigation but the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is helping them to read the plane’s black boxes.
Depending on the results of the probe, China Eastern risks consequences including fines, aircraft groundings and unfavourable treatment when applying for new routes and airport slots, Cheng Weng, Morningstar analyst said.
China Eastern has not released any forecast of when it expects MAX deliveries to resume, though rival China Southern Airlines said it could take some of the planes this year.
Aviation safety agencies in the US, Brazil, Canada, Australia, the UK, the European Union and elsewhere have ordered Boeing and airlines to make repairs to a flight control system blamed for the two crashes that led to the ban; update operating manuals; and increase pilot training.
Airlines are now slowly adding the 737 Max back into their schedules. Southwest was the latest carrier to do so when it resumed flights March 11.
The plane is now back in service with all US carriers, but Boeing will have to work vigorously to retain the trust of airlines and the flying public in regard to the Max family.
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