European Aviation Regulator Prepares To Approve Boeing’s 737 Max, But Obstacles Remain

The European Union’s top aviation regulator has determined that Boeing’s troubled 737 Max jet aircraft will be safe to fly before the end of the year.

Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, said that in the wake of test flights conducted in September – and data received from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration -- the agency expects to release an airworthiness directive for the 737 Max next month. That directive will be followed by four weeks of public comment.

The decision emerged despite the fact that an upgrade demanded by EASA – a synthetic sensor software -- will not be ready for up to two years, Bloomberg reported.

“Our analysis is showing that this [aircraft] is safe, and the level of safety reached is high enough for us,” Ky said. “What we discussed with Boeing is the fact that with the third [synthetic] sensor, we could reach even higher safety levels.”

Ky explained that the synthetic sensor – which will be retrofitted into all 737 Max vessels -- will simplify the job of pilots if and when the other two sensors fail.

“We think that it is overall a good development which will increase the level of safety,” Ky said. “It’s not available now and it will be available at the same time as the [larger 737] Max 10 [model] is expected to be certified.”

In the U.S., the FAA has yet to make a final determination on the matter, but last month FAA Administrator Steve Dickson flew on the 737 Max and said he was “very comfortable” in it.

The 737 Max was grounded in March 2019 following two crashes that killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Regulators in the U.S. and Europe have since repeatedly demanded answers and reforms from Boeing over issues related to the aircraft model.

The loss of the 737 Max from its fleet has cost Boeing billions of dollars, even before the COVID-19 pandemic hammered the aviation industry, as well as the job of former CEO Dennis Muilenburg.

Bloomberg noted that the 737 Max saga had strained relations between EASA and FAA -- ironically, because the European regulator was initially more strident in demanding improvements at Boeing.

Ky admitted that the relationship between EASA and FAA needs to change in order to promote air safety, but not compromise progress.

“For the FAA, the [737] Max accident has been a tragedy,” Ky said. “In terms of the way in which they perceive their own roles, the way they were attacked by different stakeholders in the U.S., the way they have been criticized, it must have been extremely difficult.”

Ky added: “At the end of the day, we have a lot of respect for the technical expertise at the FAA, we have a lot of respect for our colleagues and I’d like to believe it is the same on their side. That is the real important foundation for the relationship to grow again, it has to be based on respect.”

The 737 Max has undergone flight testing by officials at FAA, EASA, Canada and Brazil – although China, a key player in global aviation, has not been directly involved in this process.

Despite the apparent good news coming out of Europe, some analysts are skeptical. Jeremy Bragg, an equity research analyst at Redburn in the U.K., said Boeing “still has a mammoth task on its hands.” For not only does Boeing have the heavy task of returning the 737 Max to the skies, it still has about 450 Max jets that have already been constructed, but are lying as inventory awaiting delivery to customers.

“This must be achieved against a backdrop of very weak underlying demand, due to COVID-19, which will almost inevitably result in very weak pricing on the Max for the next few years,” Bragg said.

Indeed, Boeing suffered three cancelled orders for the 737 Max in September and only delivered 11 total aircraft to buyers during the month.

Air Lease Corp Executive Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy told Aviation Week that Boeing will face the largest inventory of built new aircraft in its history, as “the number of cancellations is increasing literally by every week.”

“Boeing has to make some tough decisions by the end of the year on how to deal with this,” Udvar-Hazy said.