• Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Boeing chief says progress being made on fixing 737 Max flaws

Boeing chief says progress being made on fixing 737 Max flaws

Boeing’s chief executive has vowed there will not be another accident related to the flight control software that has been implicated in two deadly crashes of its 737 Max aircraft, while admitting its communications were unsatisfactory during the crisis.

Addressing the media on the eve of the Paris Air Show and for only the second time since the second crash of the 737 Max in March, Dennis Muilenburg said he was “very confident there will not be another [MCAS-related] accident”. He was referring to the faulty manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system that played a role in both crashes.

Boeing has thrown its weight behind resolving the crisis, said Mr Muilenburg, stressing that the “accidents continue to weigh heavily on us”. They were “something we will never forget,” he said. Boeing, he added, had work to do “to re-earn the public’s trust”.

The company continues to work on a software fix for MCAS but Mr Muilenburg did not give a timetable as to when the Max would return to the skies. “We are making good steady progress,” he said.

Global aviation safety regulators, he said, were “converging together to certify and get the Max back up in the air. We will take the time necessary to ensure that safety is paramount.”

The company has initiated training and education updates around the world. Pilots at more than 90 per cent of Max customers have now flown the Max in a simulator setting.

Boeing is also working hard on improving its communications which Mr Muilenburg admitted was an area where “we could have and should have done better”.