The Boeing 737 MAX is coming to an airport near you, and if you’re still flying, then you may ride on the plane in coming months, like it or not.
The plane’s grounding 20 months ago followed two crashes that killed a combined 346 people.
The COVID-19 pandemic largely replaced our concerns about the MAX. Most Americans have worried about whether any plane ride is hazardous to their health.
Federal Aviation Administration officials say the plane is safe and lifted its grounding order on Nov. 16.
The three airlines that will fly the plane in the U.S.— American, Southwest and United—say they are confident Boeing has corrected the Max’s problems, but they acknowledge that some passengers might still be skittish.
While U.S. airlines say their websites list the plane models they deploy on each route, they admit that the reality is that planes get swapped all the time. The MAX could end up being a last-minute substitution.
“How each customer feels about making a reservation on a 737 MAX 8 or flying on a MAX is an expression of personal comfort that we know is going to be different for every person, especially here at the outset as we return to the service process,” said Southwest President Tom Nealon in a media briefing on Nov.19.
Southwest already allows customers to receive credits for switching or canceling flights. Nealon said the same policy will apply to passengers who don’t want to fly the Max.
Southwest will not be the first airline flying the Max. That distinction goes to American Airlines, which plans to operate two MAX flights a day between Miami and New York from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4, and then add more flights to the schedule.
It will be followed by United Airlines, which plans to put the MAX in service in the first quarter of 2021. Southwest Airlines, the world's largest MAX operator, plans to reintroduce the jet in the second quarter.
Airlines have grounded hundreds of planes because of the lack of demand, but they still want to fly the MAX because it is 20 percent more fuel-efficient than other 737 planes.
Even before the two crashes — on Oct. 29, 2018, in Indonesia, and March 10, 2019, in Ethiopia — I avoided the MAX in my travels.
I fly American Airlines a lot and often chat with flight attendants. They’d warned me that the American Airlines version of the Max contained 12 extra seats that cut legroom throughout the plane.
They also described the new, slimmed-down lavatories, 24 inches wide from wall to wall, with a sink that only fit one hand. The attendants said the water faucet spray quickly overwhelmed the sink, creating a small river.
“We warned (American CEO) Doug Parker that American had gone too far,” one flight attendant told me, referring to a meeting flight attendants had with the top executive.
American subsequently addressed the flooding problem by reducing the water spray, but the miniature restrooms remain.
Comfort aside, the most critical issue is whether the MAX gets you from Point A to B safely.
To believe it’s safe, we have to have faith that the FAA has finally done its job enforcing airplane safety.
Some aren’t buying that.
Critics include consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who lost a grandniece in one of the crashes. He and relatives of other victims spoke to reporters in a call following the Nov. 16 order allowing the MAX to fly again. They maintain that the plane is not airworthy and should remain grounded.
The FAA’s original approval of the Max’s automated flight control system in 2017 has since come under heavy criticism from the agency’s inspector general and federal lawmakers. They detailed a cozy relationship between Boeing officials and aviation regulators that led to the approval of the plane three years ago before it was ready to fly.
The two planes crashed because of faulty sensors and a design flaw in the flight control system that repeatedly pushed down the nose of the aircraft.
A damning FAA report uncovered by congressional investigators after the first Max crash showed the agency had not acted aggressively enough on its own findings.
The FAA had concluded that the MAX could crash 15 more times — and kill 2,900 people — over a 45-year period, the life of the plane, if Boeing didn’t resolve the flight control system problem.
The FAA and Boeing responded by sending out a notice reminding pilots how to handle their plane when the nose pitch was down. Only after the second crash, five months after the first, did the FAA ground the plane.
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson has defended his administration’s record of ensuring that planes are safe. At the same time, he admits that the FAA missed problems in the MAX flight control system software.
He promises a more aggressive approach towards plane approvals in the future.
“I would put my own family on it,” he said of the MAX.
Dickson has clearly mastered the art of Washington double-speak. Basically, he’s telling us the FAA did not mess up, but it will also do more in the future. Boeing officials, for their part, have apologized for the crashes and say they are now a better company.
The MAX’s new fix includes a second sensor for the flight control computer to avoid the system breakdown that lead to the two crashes.
Pilots also will be required to train on a MAX simulator, something Boeing said wasn’t necessary before the crashes because the MAX was not a new plane, just a new model update of the 737.
One way to move past the MAX’s controversial first few years of flying is to change its name. At least that’s what some airlines seem to think.
American Airlines won’t be listing the MAX name on its airline safety card in the seat pocket. Instead, it will describe the plane as a Boeing 737-8.
American spokesman Brian Metham said this is part of the standardization of the airline’s safety cards, not “any MAX rebranding effort.”
Boeing says it plans to keep the name — but recently called it a 737-8 when announcing that a small Polish airliner has purchased two of the planes.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the MAX name eventually disappears. It could speed up passenger’s amnesia about the plane’s tragic past, something that Boeing and airlines who fly the Max would love.
Randy Diamond covers tourism and the travel industry. To read more from Randy, become a subscriber. randy.diamond@express-news.net
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