ALPA opposes Boeing’s latest 737 Max 7 and 10 exemption request

Opposition has arisen to a regulatory exemption Boeing has requested for the 737 Max 7’s and Max 10’s stall-management yaw damper (SMYD), while Boeing continues insisting its proposal poses no safety threat and that the SMYD is well proven. Boeing in January asked the Federal Aviation Administration for a temporary exemption that would allow the long-delayed Max 7 and 10 to be certificated despite Boeing not yet having demonstrated that the types’ SMYDs meet new, stricter software requirements. If accepted, the exemption would also allow the company to more-quickly introduce in-development “enhanced angle-of-attack safety features” for all Max variants, including for the already in-service Max 8 and 9. Boeing asked that the exemption be good through end-October 2028. Between now and then, it intends to complete work to demonstrate that the SMYD, unchanged, meets FAA requirements. Boeing badly needs to get its Max 7 and Max 10 certificated and into customers’ hands following years-long delays. But the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is pushing back, asking the FAA to reject Boeing’s request on safety grounds. “ALPA believes the certification of the SMYD system should be concluded before entry into service,” the union told the FAA in a 3 February letter. “ALPA furthermore does not agree with the 3.5 years Boeing is asking for an exemption.”<br/>