The anti-stall system that pilots battled before the crash of a Lion Air-operated Boeing 737 Max in October was also likely to have been activated before 157 people were killed this month on a flight of the same model leaving Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian Airlines CE has said. The new feature of the 737 Max, the manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system (MCAS), has been highlighted by an investigation into the previous crash. Ethiopian’s boss, Tewolde GebreMariam, told the Wall Street Journal he believed MCAS was also “to the best of our knowledge” in play for the brief duration of flight 302 from Addis Ababa. GebreMariam’s reported remarks are the first from a senior official close to the flight to confirm that MCAS was operating, although he said that only the investigation would provide conclusive evidence. <br/>
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Ethiopian Airlines group CE Tewolde Gebremariam has pledged “full and transparent” co-operation with the inquiry into the fatal loss of a Boeing 737 Max 8, and has underscored the airline’s faith in the airframer. While Gebremariam says that “many questions” about the 737 Max “remain without answers”, and that he “fully” supports the worldwide grounding of the type, he stresses the importance of the US manufacturer’s partnership with Ethiopian. “Let me be clear,” he said. “Ethiopian Airlines believes in Boeing.” Gebremariam reiterates the claim that the carrier’s pilots were “fully trained” regarding the procedures bulletin issued after the Lion Air accident. He adds that the differences training between the airline’s earlier 737 variants and the 737 Max require computer-based training, but that the airline “went beyond that”. <br/>
Concern about Asiana Airlines' liquidity is rising after 2 rating firms warned its debt score may be cut to junk due to a lack of transparency in its 2018 financial report. The carrier’s BBB- rating, the lowest investment-grade level, was put on negative review by both Korea Investors Service and NICE Investors Service Friday after Asiana got a “qualified” opinion for its annual report from its auditor, Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers. The problem is that most of the carrier’s asset-backed securities and some of its long-term debt include a stipulation that will force it to make an early repayment in the event its rating is cut by one level to speculative grade. At the end of last year, Asiana had about KRW1.1t (US$969m) of ABS and KRW258b of long-term debt that included the trigger, according to Mirae Asset Daewoo. <br/>