Boeing aims to deliver up to 70 737 Max aircraft monthly to clear its backlog once the grounding is lifted. The manufacturer has not discussed publicly its plans for the profile or sequence of deliveries across its production line and the estimated 250-plus aircraft that have been built since deliveries were suspended. Boeing said very little about the 737 Max situation during the ISTAT EMEA conference in Berlin this week, but customer sources indicate once the grounding is lifted the manufacturer will focus efforts on delivering brand-new aircraft off the Renton production line, while simultaneously beginning the process to ship the stored undelivered aircraft. In parallel with this will be the programme supporting operators returning the more than 370 delivered-but-grounded Max aircraft to flight. <br/>
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Boeing’s evaluation of the 737 Max system during development used an oversimplified test that didn’t anticipate the cacophony of alarms and alerts that actually occurred during a pair of deadly crashes, US investigators concluded. In the first official finding from a US govt review of the crashes that grounded Boeing’s best-selling airliner, the NTSB Thursday issued seven recommendations calling on the FAA to update how it assumes pilots will react in emergencies and to make aircraft more intuitive when things go wrong. “We want them to step up how they certify these airplanes with regard to the human interface,” said Dana Schulze, the director of NTSB’s Office of Aviation Safety. The agency’s 737 Max recommendations don’t call for any specific updates to the plane or other aircraft, but could lead to sweeping and costly changes. <br/>
FAA deputy administrator Dan Elwell told US House appropriators that all safety inspectors who sat on the flight standardisation board (FSB) for the Boeing 737 MAX were fully qualified, contradicting recent findings from the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). “I want to make clear that the OSC’s letter connecting training ambiguity to the MAX is not accurate,” Elwell said during an Appropriations Committee hearing on the FAA’s certification process Wednesday. Elwell explained that whistleblower allegations of unqualified FAA safety inspectors on the MAX FSB were not substantiated, adding that training gaps initially identified by FAA only affected check pilots that worked on the Gulfstream G500/600. “We fundamentally disagree with OSC’s conclusions," Elwell told the lawmakers. <br/>
Companies across Europe are reconsidering travel policies, and individuals are asking whether jetting off to sunny spots for holidays is worth the environmental cost. The Swedes even have a name for it: flygskam, or flight shame, and it’s a growing threat to airlines in Europe and beyond. SAS says its traffic fell 2% in the 9 months ended July 30 from the year-earlier period, and Sweden’s airport operator has handled 9% fewer passengers for domestic flights this year than last. Both say flygskam has played a role in declining traffic. “Unchallenged, this antiflying sentiment will grow and spread,” says Alexandre de Juniac, head of IATA. “Politicians aren’t sticking up for us.” <br/>
Police investigating a drone attack at Gatwick Airport say they are no closer to finding the people responsible. Flights were suspended for 30 hours after the drone sightings in December, causing chaos for 140,000 passengers. Sussex Police said they received 129 separate reports of drone activity at the time, with 109 from "credible witnesses" including a pilot and airport police. The force say they have ruled out 96 people of interest. Without new information coming to light, there are "no further realistic lines of inquiry at this time", police added. The policing operation and subsequent investigation has cost GBP790,000 and is not expected to increase further, with the bulk of the cost relating to the operational police response. <br/>
In a further effort to increase gender diversity and level the playing field for women in the airline industry, IATA is launching a new initiative designed to increase the number of women in the sector. Thursday, IATA launched the “25by2025 campaign”, which asks its 290 members for a voluntary commitment to increase the number of women in senior positions and under-represented areas by either 25% against currently reported metrics or to a minimum representation of 25% by 2025. In addition, it requests airlines report key diversity and inclusion metrics annually. “Airlines understand the value that a diverse and gender-balanced workforce delivers,” says DG Alexandre de Juniac. <br/>