Boeing wins support in push to extend MAX certification timetable
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[October 20, 2022] By
David Shepardson
SPARTANBURG, S.C (Reuters) - Boeing Co won
support Wednesday from a Republican senator and a major customer in its
bid to convince the U.S. Congress to extend the deadline to win
certification of two new 737 MAX variants.
The U.S. planemaker faces a late December deadline for the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) to certify the MAX 7 and MAX 10. After
that date, all planes must have modern cockpit alerting systems to be
certified by the FAA, which would mean significant delays for the new
MAX aircrafts' deployment, unless Congress grants a waiver to extend the
deadline.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Reuters he supports attaching a
MAX deadline waiver to a spending bill or another measure before
Congress.
"We're going to fight as hard as we can to get Boeing the opportunity to
prove that the plane works and it does work," Graham said on the
sidelines of an event.
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The requirements were approved by Congress in late 2020 as part of FAA
certification reforms after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people
and led to the bestselling plane's 20-month grounding.
Earlier Wednesday, United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby also
backed the extension, saying it makes sense to have a common 737
alerting system. "It's a right safety outcome," Kirby told CNBC.
"Changing the cockpit is a bad safety outcome."
United in 2017 ordered 100 MAX 10s. Without an extension United would
convert some orders to MAX 8 and 9s, Kirby said, "and we're going to buy
more Airbus 321 airplanes," which would impact Boeing's U.S. workers.
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![](../images/102022PIX/busine35.jpg)
A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a
display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough,
Britain, July 20, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
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"We should all be rooting for Boeing," Kirby added, citing its
impact on the U.S. economy and exports.
Earlier this month, Senator Roger Wicker unsuccessfully sought to
attach an extension of the requirements through September 2024 to a
defense bill.
Pilots are split, with the union representing Southwest Airlines
pilots in support and the union representing American Airlines
pilots opposed.
Families of some MAX crash victims are also opposed as is C.B.
"Sully" Sullenberger, who rose to fame in 2009 as a commercial pilot
who safely landed an Airbus A320 on New York's Hudson River after
hitting a flock of geese. FAA "must require the installation of
modern crew alerting systems," Sullenberger said Friday.
Even with a waiver, it is uncertain when MAX planes could be
approved.
The FAA in an Oct. 12 letter said some key documents Boeing
submitted in the agency's ongoing review of the MAX 7 are
incomplete, while Boeing does not anticipate winning approval for
the MAX 10 before next summer.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sam Holmes)
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