Politics erodes Safety!
ATC Watcher.
Spot on You are.
We need to get back to basics as per ICAO agreement, rules and recommendations.
We are in a sad state when Crew need to make political considerations before committing to an alternate in an Emergency.
Cargo one.
Yes, I would imagine that Mr Boeing is not happy with Washington on this one. I hope they push hard. ( Over the cliff he goes, sorry, could not be helped.)
The idea that I have to ask Donald were to bring my excellent Buck folding knife ( purchased in Canada exported to Norway with no export licence in 1993 ) does not appeal to me.
F35s sure,but taping up a busted MAX and getting it home to Oslo ASAP should trigger some RealPolitik executive orders.
BTW
The longer it sit there the more tempted I would be to have a look/see at all the fancy modern stuff inside it , if I was the top Spy Guy in Iran.
Just an observation.
Mind You Iran is adhering to the letter and intent of the old Nuclear agreement and are honoring any ICAO commitments in this case.
Anyway
It will be back before Easter, I bet.
Consider it a novel winter dry storage of excess aircraft.