The three big aviation regulators and Boeing should jointly make a decision on the return to flight of the Boeing 737 MAX. If not, it will take ages before the aircraft is back in service, IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said on September 6 at the Aviation Festival in London.
”If each agency per region is to decide on this, it will be a nightmare”, he said. “The consistency and effectiveness of the (certification) system will be significantly reduced”. De Juniac fears fragmentation coming out of a lack of trust and fueled by political issues risks to destabilize certification procedures. “That’s a pity”.
Earlier this week Europe’s EASA said it had additional questions on the modifications to the MAX software and training procedures that Boeing recently has presented to the regulators. EASA earlier this year made it clear that it won’t allow the MAX back to the skies until it was fully satisfied with all aspects.
Critics say it was the US FAA that was fooled by Boeing and certified the MAX without full knowledge of the Maneuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) that caused the two fatal MAX-crashes. De Juniac thinks the FAA, Boeing and three major regulators should be in the lead to recertify the aircraft. If done this way, the MAX could be flying again before the end of the year.
