Analysis: As regulators prepare to weigh in on 737 MAX, FAA's global dominance fades
Analysis: As regulators prepare to weigh in on 737 MAX, FAA's global dominance fades
By Jamie Freed, Allison Lampert
SYDNEY/MONTREAL (Reuters) - Global regulators have held off approving the Boeing 737 MAX despite a decision by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to end a 20-month grounding, highlighting changes in the global regulatory pecking order caused by two crashes of the jet.
In March 2019, when the second MAX crash in five months brought the death toll on the recently introduced Boeing Co BA.N model to 346 people, China quickly grounded the airliner, sparking a cascade of flight bans around the world.
The announcements from East to West highlighted China’s growing clout in aerospace and global affairs.
Now, however, the ungrounding process is expected to take days, weeks or longer as foreign regulators check the FAA’s homework and impose their own conditions for a return to service.
In the past, regulators promptly followed the guidance of the FAA, credited for decades with pioneering aviation safety. But many are now wary of seeming to toe the FAA line after the U.S. agency was faulted for lax oversight.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-737max-regulators-analysis/analysis-as-regulators-prepare-to-weigh-in-on-737-max-faas-global-dominance-fades-idUSKBN27Z0HN