Boeing vows ‘transparency’ to 737 Max buyers in new move

Bloomberg

Boeing Co met with 737 Max operators and lessors in Amsterdam, the first of about six sessions planned around the world as the planemaker lays the groundwork for resuming commercial flights of the aircraft following two deadly crashes.
Executives are using the sessions to discuss how to maintain the jetliners, which were grounded days after a March 10 disaster, said Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
The meetings will also touch on plans to “turn the fleet back on” once regulators clear the Max to fly. Other topics include pilot training, software updates and a public campaign to bolster the jet’s bruised reputation.
“We know that we have a number of areas where we need to improve, including transparency,” Johndroe said.
Boeing is stepping up customer outreach two days after revealing it had known long before the first 737 Max crash in October that a cockpit alert wasn’t working the way buyers of the jet had been told.
The manufacturer is also finalising an update for software that in both accidents pushed the plane’s nose down until pilots lost control.
The changes will need to be certified by aviation regulators before the jet is cleared to resume commercial flights, and the US Federal Aviation Administration announced a new panel to review the software.
“The decision to return the Max to commercial service rests in the hands of global regulators,” Johndroe said.
“In anticipation of that day, we are meeting with our customers in regional conferences to talk through the activities to prepare the fleet and implement the software and training requirements.”
The shares fell 3.9 percent to $357.23 at the close in New York after a downgrade by Barclays Plc, which said that investors were underestimating the fallout from the crashes. Boeing’s drop was the biggest on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as US markets fell sharply amid fears of a worsening trade war between the US and China.
The panel’s recommendations will “directly inform the FAA’s decision concerning the 737 Max fleet’s safe return to service,” the US regulator said in a statement announcing the Technical Advisory Board. The FAA and Boeing have been working closely on the software update, but the Chicago-based planemaker hasn’t completed its work.
EASA is running its own review of 737 Max’s design, and vowed not to allow flights of Boeing’s best-selling jet until its probe is finished.

FAA seeks NASA help in 737 Max safety review
Bloomberg

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is convening a panel of outside experts from the Air Force, NASA and a Transportation Department centre to review Boeing Co’s software fixes for the grounded 737 Max.
The agency announced the new Technical Advisory Board. The panel’s recommendations will “directly inform the FAA’s decision concerning the 737 MAX fleet’s safe return to service,” the agency said.
The plane was grounded after the second fatal accident in less than five months claimed a total of 346 lives. Boeing designed the plane with a system that automatically forced down the nose in some circumstances and malfunctions on both flights caused it to repeatedly dive until pilots lost control.
The manufacturer is changing the software to make it less likely to fail and to limit how far it can drive down the nose. Boeing and the FAA have been working closely on the software fix, but the planemaker hasn’t completed its work.