737 max... what now?

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Question to all the aviation specialists who follow this forum. Is the 737 - Max gonna get back in the air or has their reputation been damaged beyond repair? They are still sitting all around the country, is the FAA any closer to certifying their return or will they go down in history as the albatross around Boeing's neck?
 
I'm not a specialist but the same question was raised with the Dreamliner during the battery fiasco. Today the 787 flies in three variations all over the globe and is considered a fine aircraft. I've flown on them many times with no worries.

Eventually Boeing will solve the issue.
 
As an aside, I saw a documentary a couple years ago that showed some stark differences in the assembly of planes in South Carolina and Washington state. The machinists etc in Washington stating they wouldn't fly on a Carolina built Boeing. Don't remember the airframe(s) being discussed and the gripes were mostly about mechanical assembly by less than competent employees and approvals by unqualified inspectors. The 737 maxx will be back sooner or later and the hubbub will be mostly forgotten soon afterwards.
 
Of course they will fly again and no, there's no albatross around their neck. Boeing just received an order for 200 of the MAX aircraft at the Paris Air Show.
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
As an aside, I saw a documentary a couple years ago that showed some stark differences in the assembly of planes in South Carolina and Washington state. The machinists etc in Washington stating they wouldn't fly on a Carolina built Boeing. Don't remember the airframe(s) being discussed and the gripes were mostly about mechanical assembly by less than competent employees and approvals by unqualified inspectors. The 737 maxx will be back sooner or later and the hubbub will be mostly forgotten soon afterwards.


The Union shop complaining and campaigning against a Non-Union shop. How would a passenger know which plant where, built the 737 they were flying on next week? Check the serial numbers? Which plant built the crashed 737s?
 
Does any one else ponder the cost of having the Aircraft sit. and the loss of revenue ?
 
In the shorter term, yes, the max will eventually get back in the air.

In the longer term, it remains to be seen how airlines relationship with Boeing will be on new products. It remains to be seen how the rest of the world will trust the FAA certification process moving forward, as clearly a significant amount of trust was lost. It remains to be seen how the traveling public will receive the plane when it starts flying again.

This is not the only airframe that has had some hiccups (with devastating results to be clear) when it came out. It isn't even the first time the 737 platform has had issues (Hard over rudder come to mind?).

As far as the Washington/South Carolina thing goes, consider the sources of the information before making decisions on it. A lot of union vs non-union talk that taints some of the discussion here (and I'm not denying some issues - just like everything else - consider the source and why they are making a big deal of it...)
 
My mom and nephew flew from CLE to DFW on and old MD-80 Monday via AA. Alot of those planes have been put back into service. And fly into and out of DFW. There was a pretty long delay out of DFW to PHX. I'm guessing because of all the old aircraft put back into service and/or all 737-max being mothballed.
 
I'm a retired Airline Employee and from where I stand there are 2 problems:

1st) The FAA reputation has been badly tarnished and it will take many many years if ever for it to regain its previous level. To allow Boeing to police itself was a misjudgement of colossal proportion and heads should roll.

2nd) Boeing's own reputation has been badly soiled, they put profit way ahead of safety and mismanaged the MCAS implementation BIG TIME, here too heads should roll.

All this will help Airbus & Embraer greatly. the FAA is already shunned in favour of EASA.
I doubt very much that Boeing has 200 firm sale for the 737/800Max, they may have some letters of understanding or even conditional sales; no airline in its right mind would commit to this AC till everything is sorted out and it will take years.
 
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Either way, it would be great to see a truly modern, composite 737 replacement that blows-away the A320neo in efficiency.

Also, pilots don't like spending time in the 737 nearly as much as the A320. The 737 cockpit is incredibly small with poor ergonomics and outdated technology. Not a great place to spend a workday.
 
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My family and I flew a route we have done several times over the past 20 years, always on 737's and with the same airline. This time it was a Bombardier Q400 turboprop, I was told due to grounding of the 737 MAX's in their fleet.
 
I don't think the current airframes are going to return to the skies short of major design changes that extend far beyond just the avionics. They might work out a ballasting solution to allow MCAS to be permanently disabled and the frames re-purposed for other uses (cargo, charters, etc.).
 
Originally Posted by pitzel
I don't think the current airframes are going to return to the skies short of major design changes that extend far beyond just the avionics. They might work out a ballasting solution to allow MCAS to be permanently disabled and the frames re-purposed for other uses (cargo, charters, etc.).


I hear the squirrels running!
lol.gif
this AC was a stop-gap for Boeing they tried to extend its life. I never liked the AC from the moment it came to market. we nicknamed it "Fat Albert" IMO this airframe is done and as you said it will end up in cargo, I don't think even the charters will touch it.
 
Originally Posted by E365
Either way, it would be great to see a truly modern, composite 737 replacement that blows-away the A320neo in efficiency.

Also, pilots don't like spending time in the 737 nearly as much as the A320. The 737 cockpit is incredibly small with poor ergonomics and outdated technology. Not a great place to spend a workday.


Agree, the A320 looked like it came from another planet! Boeing was very slow in adopting the latest technology and did so in the end only because Airbus sales skyrocketed and Boeing's plummeted, they are still trying to catch up. It's a question of management and their corporate mentality. There is need for change at the top.
 
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Originally Posted by CT8
Does any one else ponder the cost of having the Aircraft sit. and the loss of revenue ?

Airlines already trying to sue Boeing for lost revenue for having their aircraft grounded.

Even when the 737 MAX is allowed to fly, some will refuse to fly on it.
 
Originally Posted by carviewsonic
My family and I flew a route we have done several times over the past 20 years, always on 737's and with the same airline. This time it was a Bombardier Q400 turboprop, I was told due to grounding of the 737 MAX's in their fleet.

I really like the Q400.
 
It will fly again, you don't just throw away airplanes that are not ready to retire yet. It may be refused by many countries (as an excuse for protectionism, or they don't have a lot of pilots that are good enough to fly them), and they may get multiple redundant failsafe to ground any unusual issue no matter how small.

I would expect them to be put into shorter domestic only routes (no need to worry about foreign countries grounding them), not loaded up to the max, maybe reducing the capacity to increase extra safety margin. It may not be as profitable of a plane to fly as before, and Boeing will compensate the cost difference for that.

Or Boeing will pay for extra training so only astronaut grade pilots will fly them, and therefore only fly them at a premium pay.
 
Boeing/FAA very badly tarnished their reputations. An old design w/the same wing in all models just doesn't seem prudent considering the new engine's weight/performance and mounting location on the Max.. I don't know the future for this version, but I know I'll find an alternative plane to fly.
 
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