American Airlines became the first US airline to operate commercial flights on the Boeing 737 Max after it was banned from flying last month.
According to flight tracking website Flightaware, the AA 718 departed Miami International Airport at 10:24 a.m. local time on December 29 with 100 passengers aboard, and was expected to land at New York's LaGuardia Airport. less than three hours later. The plane will return to Miami "almost full" at a later date.
"Returning to service has been going on for a while, so this is the culmination of the work we've been doing," Chris Hurrell, commander of the US 737 fleet, told FlightGlobal prior to the type's first departure.
American has 31 such aircraft, seven of which have been delivered since the type was grounded on November 18, Hurrell said. Another 24 instances are in what he calls "active storage" at the airline's main maintenance center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, because the man was barred from flying in March 2019.
“That means our maintenance staff approaches them every 10 days or so - they run the machines, different systems like hydraulics, rotating tires - to keep them flying for the last 20 days. month. Now, with new FAA grounding orders and airworthiness directives, this aircraft undergoes all compliance checks, and the final check is flight operational readiness. "
Four of the previously stored aircraft have so far completed this readiness flight and could return to service soon, with the remaining 20 in progress, Hurrell said.
About 3,000 airline pilots are expected to fly the 737, of which 1,400 have completed new additional Max training requirements that include simulator sessions, he added.
“When pilots enter the simulator, they are usually evaluated. Max Return to Service training is real training, not a test. Pilots are trained to handle abnormal situations and learn to use a new, amended checklist to return to service, "he said.
On November 18, the Federal Aviation Administration revoked the March 13, 2019 Emergency Ban Order - a document that prohibits US airlines from operating the newest version of the Boeing 737 - after pilots successfully resolved many issues. safety events that resulted in two fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
Brazil's civil aviation agency, ANAC, followed up with recertification a week later, but the plane is still awaiting re-approval in several other jurisdictions, including China, Europe and Canada.
Since being banned from flying, Latin American airlines Gol and Aeromexico have returned the type to paid service. In the United States, American Airlines was the first airline to continue flying by plane.
To build trust in the recertified Max, American offered five employee-only flights before returning the jet to its regular passenger schedule.
Hurrell said that while it is an exciting day for the airline, the preferred outcome of Max's return to service is an incident-free flight.
"The goal is for planes to fly from A to B safely and on time and to ensure our passengers reach their intended destinations," he said. "This is also our goal for today's flight."
United Airlines is expected to return the type to schedule on February 11, and all-Boeing Southwest Airlines plans to fly it on paid service in March.
Last week, the Air Canada 737 Max experienced engine problems shortly after leaving the airport where the plane was stored since the plane was grounded. The pilot shuts down the damaged engine and lands safely.