SEATTLE/WASHINGTON
Boeing Co began a series of long-delayed flight tests of its redesigned 737 MAX with regulators at the controls on Monday, hoping to win approval and rebuild its reputation after fatal crashes that toppled its leaders and grounded the jet worldwide.
Pilots from the U.S. FAA and Boeing landed around
2:15 p.m. local time at King County International Airport, also known as Boeing
Field, after a round trip to eastern Washington that included a high-speed
system test and other maneuvers over about three hours.
Reuters first reported the long-awaited
certification test flights, scheduled over three days, were set to start on
Monday, a pivotal moment in Boeing’s worst-ever corporate crisis triggered by
twin crashes that killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
Boeing shares closed 14.4% higher at $194.49 on
Monday, helping boost the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
After the flights are completed, the FAA must
analyze reams of test data and approve new pilot training procedures, among
other reviews, and would not likely approve the plane’s ungrounding until
September, industry and government sources say.
If that happens, the jet is on a path to resume
U.S. service before year-end, though the process has been plagued by delays for
more than a year.
Boeing did not publicize Monday’s take off, saying
the FAA was leading the 737 MAX testing process. The business-as-usual
atmosphere at Boeing Field illustrated a shift in Boeing’s communications
strategy on the 737 MAX since last year when it strained its relationship with
the Federal Aviation Administration by issuing public statements that predicted
the timeline for the jet’s return.
The crisis has cost Boeing billions of dollars,
slashed production and hobbled its supply chain, with criminal and
congressional investigations still playing out. In December, Boeing fired Chief
Executive Dennis Muilenburg after scrutiny into the jet’s design and
development tarnished its reputation with airlines and regulators.
The 737 MAX gaining FAA approval to return to
commercial service is expected to spark a scramble by Boeing to determine the
fate of hundreds of parked jets.
There are some 450 jets that Boeing is eager to
deliver once the MAX is cleared to fly, though experts say the prospect of
moving those quickly has been diminished by the coronavirus crisis.
Airlines have also grounded a further 385 jets in
their fleets, and U.S. carriers have said it will take them between 30 and 60
days after regulatory approval to prepare their jets and pilots for flight.
A central task for the FAA is to validate Boeing’s
upgrades to the MCAS anti-stall system faulted in both crashes, as well as
perform a wide array of flight maneuvers and emergency procedures, the FAA
said.
The agency said it will “lift the grounding order
only after we are satisfied that the aircraft meets certification standards.”
After taking off from Boeing Field, the crew, which
included Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Pilot Jim Webb, tested slow flight
conditions between 12,000 feet and 15,000 feet, a person familiar with the
flight said. Later, they boosted airspeed to 470 knots at 14,000 feet to
conduct high-speed system tests, a person familiar with the flight said.
The goal was likely a test of whether pilots were able to manually adjust the tail’s horizontal stabilizer at high speeds - a key focus during crash investigations because pilots struggled to make adjustments at high speeds while also trying to counteract MCAS.
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