Airlines want joint lifting of 737 MAX ban, but EU cautious

Airlines urged regulators on Sunday to coordinate on software changes to the Boeing 737 MAX in a bid to avoid damaging splits over safety seen when the aircraft was grounded in March. The IATA, whose 290 carriers account for 80% of world flying, said trust in the certification system had been damaged by a wave of separate decisions to ground the jet, with the US last to act. Airlines are worried further differences between regulators over safety could confuse passengers and cause disruption. “Any rift between regulators is not in anyone’s interest,” IATA DG Alexandre de Juniac said. Boeing’s best-selling jet was grounded after two crashes, in Indonesia and Ethiopia, over five months killed a total of 346 people. The FAA initially resisted the decisions led by China, but later followed suit. Airline officials say any new bout of staggered decisions could cause problems in operations and code-sharing. “Obviously for us to operate the MAX, the approval from the Singapore authorities is not enough. We have to operate somewhere ... Indonesia and China are two important markets for us,” Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said. But the European Union’s top transport official said bloc’s regulator, the European Aviation Safety Agency, reserved the right to carry out its own separate review at its own pace. “Certainly EASA will take a very close look at the results (of proposed design changes) and then make a decision and that message was very clearly passed,” Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said.<br/>