Boeing 737 MAX Could Stay Grounded for at Least Two Months, Trade Group Says
IATA boss says the impact of the global suspension of MAX flights on airlines has been significant
By Robert Wall and Na-young Kim
May 29, 2019 4:15 a.m. ET
The boss of the airline industry’s largest trade group Wednesday said the Boeing BA -0.01% 737 MAX fleet could remain grounded for another two months or more in the wake of two crashes.
IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac said the timing on the MAX’s return to service was up to regulators, but airlines were bracing for 10 to 12 more weeks of delay before the plane can resume commercial service.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last week hosted foreign regulators to discuss the process of clearing the MAX to commercial service after the grounding that followed the March 10 crash of one of the planes in Ethiopia. It was the second MAX crash in less than five months.
“We have to maintain an alignment between those authorities. Hopefully an alignment in terms of schedule,” Mr. de Juniac told reporters.
Boeing has been working on a fix to the flight-control flaw implicated in both crashes, but hasn’t submitted the formal submission to the FAA as it responds to questions from regulators.
He said the impact of the grounding on airlines was significant, though IATA doesn’t yet have a figure for the financial hit from canceled flights, higher costs and lower sales. If the plane remains grounded for another three months, it would hit airlines for the bulk of their summer flying, the busiest travel period for most MAX operators.
Mr. de Juniac said it was unfortunate that the FAA meeting last week didn’t spell out a timeline for the MAX’s return to flight. IATA on the same day held a meeting of 23 airlines that have the MAX in their fleet or on order. Boeing and the FAA provided information to the carriers at the event. Mr. de Juniac said carriers are hopeful that regulators will “find a reasonable time frame” to safely return the MAX to the sky.
Mr. de Juniac said a meeting between airlines, Boeing and regulators is likely to be held in five to seven weeks to prepare for a smooth MAX return to service. “We need to restore confidence in our industry,” he said, both related to the MAX and the certification process for planes more widely.
IATA members are gathering for their annual meeting, which starts Sunday, against a backdrop of global trade tensions and uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union, which have dented demand for air travel.
Air freight demand in April fell 4.7% compared with a year earlier, continuing a slump in demand that began in January, IATA said.
The Trump administration this summer plans to impose higher tariffs on numerous goods made in China, denting freight demand. The airline industry is only one of several to feel the sting. Danish shipping giant A.P. Moeller-Maersk AS last week reported a first-quarter loss and warned that rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China could cut container growth by up to a third this year.
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