general

The second deadly crash of a prized new airplane in five months has renewed safety concerns about the 737 Max that could shape Boeing's fortunes for many years. The 737 Max is the newest version of the 737, the best-selling airliner ever. Since debuting in 2017, Boeing has delivered more than 350 of them in several versions that vary by size. Dozens of airlines around the world have embraced the plane for its fuel efficiency and utility for short and medium-haul flights. Boeing has taken more than 5,000 orders for the various Max versions, and they constitute the largest share of the company's backlog of nearly 5,900 planes. They carry list prices from $100m to $135m, although airlines routinely get deep discounts. The plane suffered its first fatal accident in October, when a 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea, killing 189 people. Boeing bounced back, however, with little apparent effect on new orders. However, the second deadly crash for a Max 8 on Sunday in Ethiopia could prove far more damaging if investigators find fault in Boeing's design or airlines and their passengers lose confidence in the jet. It's unusual for authorities to take the step of grounding planes, and it's up to each country to set standards on which planes can fly and how those planes are maintained, said Todd Curtis, an aviation safety analyst who directs the Airsafe.com Foundation. <br/>

The United States told airlines it was safe to fly 737 MAX 8 planes on Monday as investigators found two black box recorders that will help piece together the final moments of an Ethiopian Airlines jet before it plunged to the ground on Sunday. China and Indonesia grounded their fleets of 737 MAX 8 aircraft earlier on Monday, citing safety concerns, contributing to a drop in Boeing shares that wiped billions of dollars off the market value of the world’s biggest plane maker. Investigators in Ethiopia found two black box recorders that will help piece together the final moments of the plane before it plunged, trailing smoke and debris, and crashed killing 157 people. Late Monday, the US FAA issued a “continued airworthiness notification” to assure operators of the plane that it was safe to fly. It said it was collecting data on the crash and keeping in contact with international civil aviation authorities and would take immediate action if it identified any safety issues. The FAA also publicly detailed for the first time a series of design changes and training requirements mandated from Boeing on the MAX fleet after a jet of the same model came down in Indonesia in October and killed 189 people. “This is welcome information on the enhancements to address shortfalls that our pilots noted after Lion Air, which is a silver lining,” said Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the American Airlines pilot union and a 737 pilot.<br/>

The United States will mandate that Boeing implement design changes by April that have been in the works for months for the 737 MAX 8 fleet after a fatal crash in October but said the plane was airworthy and did not need to be grounded after the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 crashed after take-off on Sunday. Boeing confirmed the FAA’s announcement late Monday that it will deploy a software upgrade across the 737 MAX 8 fleet “in the coming weeks” as pressure mounted. Two US senators called the fleet’s immediate grounding and a rising number of airlines said they would voluntarily ground their fleets. The company confirmed it had for several months “been developing a flight control software enhancement for the 737 MAX, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.” Boeing did not reference Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash in connection to the software upgrade. The statement did express the company’s condolences to the relatives of the 157 people who died, however. The FAA said the changes will “provide reduced reliance on procedures associated with required pilot memory items.” The FAA also said Boeing will “update training requirements and flight crew manuals to go with the design change” to an automated protection system called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS. The changes also include MCAS activation and angle of attack signal enhancements.<br/>

India's aviation watchdog issued safety instructions Monday for flying Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft following a crash in Ethiopia. The directions call for the pilot-in-command to have at least 1,000 hours of flying experience and the co-pilot to have 500 hours on Boeing 737 NG type aircraft. The government-run Directorate-General of Civil Aviation said in a statement that it has ordered a safety assessment of the Max 8 aircraft and is consulting with regulators around the world. The aviation agency also said airlines have been asked to ensure compliance by engineering and maintenance personnel. The moves came a day after the second crash of one of the planes in five months killed 157 people in Ethiopia.<br/>

Malaysia may have to reconsider the purchase of 25 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, the Nikkei reported on Monday, citing the country's economic affairs minister, after the second fatal crash of the planemaker's newest jet in less than six months. Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah, would have to "revisit" the agreement to buy the jets for the country's flagship carrier Malaysia Airlines, Nikkei quoted Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali as saying. "The management of Khazanah should look into the matter urgently. This is to ensure the safety of the airline, which is paramount," Ali said, according to the report. <br/>

South Korea is carrying out a special inspection of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane of the same model on Sunday that killed all 157 people on board. Authorities have been working with Eastar Jet to ensure the safety of the two 737 Max 8 planes the budget carrier operates, a spokesman for Eastar said Monday. The company is currently the only airline in South Korea that flies the aircraft and plans to add four more to its fleet this year. Eastar is closely monitoring the situation, while more airlines in South Korea are set to add the plane to their fleets. Korean Air Lines will receive late next month the first of 30 narrow-body 737 Max planes it ordered. Jeju Air ordered 40 of the jets in November.<br/>

The IATA on Tuesday nearly halved its annual forecast for traffic growth in the air cargo market to 2% citing trade frictions, Brexit and anti-globalization rhetoric. That is lower than a previous estimate of 3.7% traffic growth issued in December and leaves airlines more dependent on passenger revenue for growth. "Developments in the political climate are not going in our favor," IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac said. Weaker global economic activity and consumer confidence led to a 1.8% fall in global air freight traffic in January, marking the worst monthly performance in three years, IATA said last week. In 2018, air cargo traffic grew by 3.5%, which was well below the extraordinary 9.7% growth during a re-stocking cycle in 2017. Asian airlines have an outsized role in air freight, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the global market because the region is a manufacturing and e-commerce hub. IATA last week said air cargo demand in Asia fell by 3.6% in January due to weaker manufacturing conditions for exporters in the region, ongoing trade tensions and a slowing of the Chinese economy.<br/>

Five judicial reviews challenging the legality of the government’s decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow airport have begun in the high court. Protesters against the decision by the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, to approve the expansion demonstrated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Monday before the start of the hearing. One of the legal actions is being taken by a coalition of Greenpeace, the mayor of London and local councils – including the prime minister’s local authority, Windsor and Maidenhead – which will be affected by noise and pollution from the increased flights. In another action, Friends of the Earth is alleging that the government’s decision to allow the expansion is unlawful because it failed to take account of the need to mitigate climate change under the Paris agreement. Nigel Pleming QC, representing the boroughs, said the plans could see the number of passengers using the airport rise to an estimated 132m, an increase of 60%. He told the court Heathrow is the “busiest two-runway airport in the world” and is situated in a densely populated area. Pleming said: “If the [third runway] is the means of achieving expansion, there will be widespread consequences. There will be hundreds of thousands of additional flights each year across central London, and also affecting the south-east.<br/>