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Home » Boeing » I’m Ready To Fly On The 737 MAX. Are You?
Boeing

I’m Ready To Fly On The 737 MAX. Are You?

Matthew Klint Posted onNovember 18, 2020November 14, 2023 33 Comments

a plane flying in the sky

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has just “ungrounded” the Boeing 737 MAX, clearing the path for the troubled airliner to take to the skies once again in the USA. I’m ready to fly this aircraft. Are you?

FAA Ungrounds 737 MAX

After being grounded for over 600 days, the 737 MAX has been cleared to fly by the FAA. In a video announcing the news, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, a former Air Force pilot and Delta Air Lines executive, noted:

Don’t expect to see the 737 MAX back in the skies immediately, though. First, airlines must:

  • update Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) software
  • receive FAA approval for their 737 MAX re-training program
  • provide additional simulator training to pilots before they can fly the 737 MAX again

American Airlines plans to re-introduce the 737 MAX in January 2021 while Southwest and United do not plan to bring the aircraft back into service at this time.

Yes, I’d Fly On The Boeing 737 MAX…

As View from the Wing notes, the bar for this plane to fly is higher than any other aircraft in the world and it has exceeded that bar. The MCAS issue that played a role in both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes has been fixed. Consequently, I have absolutely no concerns about flying on this aircraft or taking my entire family on it.

By the way, I may be ready and willing to fly this aircraft from a safety perspective, but not from a comfort perspective. I will still seek to avoid this aircraft not over crash concerns, but crush concerns. In both economy and first class cabins (on American and United), legroom is tight and I doubt Boeing fixed the water splashing problem in the tiny onboard mid-cabin lavatory.

I’ve lost a lot of faith in government regulatory agencies over the years, but I do not think the embarrassed FAA would have re-certified this aircraft without proper vetting this time around. Furthermore, the endorsement by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) gives me even greater peace of mind.

CONCLUSION

After more than 600 days, the FAA has ungrounded the 737 MAX. Expect to see it back in the skies in the new year. While I won’t be rushing to fly on it for comfort reasons, all safety issues have been addressed to my satisfaction.

Will you fly on the 737 MAX? Do you trust the judgment of the EASA and FAA?


image: Boeing

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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33 Comments

  1. debit Reply
    November 18, 2020 at 3:09 pm

    They need to release it to low cost Asian carriers for 6 months. If there is no crash then its a safe plane. Those pilots have minimal experience.

    Don’t go how experienced pilots with air force background handle the plane.

    • Doland Drumo Reply
      November 19, 2020 at 5:15 pm

      Seriously ? What a moron you are to say this. You are a racist.

      • debit Reply
        November 20, 2020 at 1:04 am

        Are you complimenting me or accusing me?

        I feel like you are complimenting but then you call me a moron. Why?

    • Homayon salimi Reply
      November 20, 2020 at 1:51 am

      I recomend everybody to see the investigation and report of victims lawyers and film provided by DW in Youtube.Anybody who has a basic knowledge of aircraft and aviation understand that this aircraft is not safe.

  2. Kale R Fithian Reply
    November 18, 2020 at 3:09 pm

    I would say I mostly trust the regulatory agencies, but who I trust more are the attorneys and marketing people who work for Boeing. If they cut corners on the 737 Max again (or even if that is perception) the punishment they will take in the flying market will be exponentially strong. That is mainly why I would fly the 737 Max.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      November 18, 2020 at 3:38 pm

      Agreed on that.

    • James Reply
      November 19, 2020 at 1:27 pm

      Lol. Attorneys either representing family if victims or Boeing got more billable hours if there’s a new case.

      You try to sound smart, in reality……

  3. Ed Reply
    November 18, 2020 at 3:18 pm

    I’ll avoid them for lack of comfort as well. Thinner seats, less legroom, and a more crowded feel will make flying on this aircraft an awful experience.

    • Michael Martinez Reply
      November 20, 2020 at 10:41 am

      I will avoid flying the Max as much I can, maybe I will never fly on it.
      All those airplanes have been grounded for almost 2 years. It will take a lot to bring them back to update and even more to do the repairs they need to avoid the problem that made them crash.

  4. stogieguy7 Reply
    November 18, 2020 at 3:28 pm

    Deadly uncomfortable, that’s what they are. And no airline (to my knowledge) has them configured well. For most airlines, this model seems to be the one they use to inflict maximum misery, I suppose WN is an exception to this, I flew in a MAX soon after they started getting them and it was actually configured much like their 737-800s. Which is to say….not bad at all.

    • Jerry Reply
      November 18, 2020 at 4:04 pm

      Copa is introducing lie flat seats on the MAX.

      I think it’s just North American carriers planning to brutalize their passengers with it.

  5. Paolo Reply
    November 18, 2020 at 3:31 pm

    No, I’m not consciously getting on this plane; certainly not anytime soon, maybe never. Boeing needs to get the message that their behaviour was disgraceful and scandalous…certainly grossly negligent and probably criminal. Why would we reward such outrageousness by flying on this plane? On the other hand, if I turn up to fly and it’s a MAX, I’ll take it.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      November 18, 2020 at 3:38 pm

      I do think that someone needs to take the fall for what happened and go to jail. We, as a nation and society, cannot tolerate such negligence that led to cutting so many safety corners. I’m still in the camp that an expert pilot would not have crashed in either incident. However, pilots should never have been put in that position in the first place.

      • 121Pilot Reply
        November 18, 2020 at 5:18 pm

        I for one still believe that the aircraft in the hands on a properly trained and competent crew was safe as originally built. There are certainly issues that needed to be addressed but as a I said when this started nothing that required grounding the aircraft.

        Both crews that crashed made very serious and fundamental errors that were flying 101 level mistakes.

        • James Reply
          November 19, 2020 at 1:18 pm

          121Pilot: fundamental errors after being certified by Boeing to fly the aircraft.

          Unless you are being paid to defend Boeing either directly or indirectly, please kindly stop blaming others. Those crews you mentioned have families. Don’t ruin their name for your ego or internet recognition.

      • Dave Reply
        November 19, 2020 at 7:58 am

        Unfortunately we live in a society where small people will go to jail for the smallest mistakes (such as stealing groceries or selling pot), and jail includes physical and psychological abuse plus never being able to reintegrate into society. However, big corporations can do what they want, they can literally defraud millions of people by selling them faulty or harmful products. All they will get is maybe a fine. I am by no means a communist but why can’t there be “sane” capitalism in the US just like in Germany. The justice system is not perfect in Germany but look at the US and even Venezuela probably has a better justice system.

      • James Reply
        November 19, 2020 at 1:12 pm

        Lol. You differentiate “expert pilot” and “non-expert pilot”. Did Boeing ever issue a requirement to fly this plane to be an “expert pilot’?

        Please, don’t try to shift blame to pilot. Unless you got paid for it…..

        • Matthew Klint Reply
          November 19, 2020 at 1:16 pm

          I know you are a proud nationalist and defend the honor of your nation and its people at all costs, but why do you think such a crash never happened in the USA when exponentially more of these “death traps” were in use?

          • James
            November 19, 2020 at 1:23 pm

            Like accidents can choose where and when to be happen…..

            I’m simply stating the facts. Why you bring issue of nation? Maybe you are trying to look nationalist. To avoid people see you as getting certain benefits on building certain public opinion perhaps?

  6. cj Reply
    November 18, 2020 at 3:50 pm

    every uncomfortable ….worst business class ive ever took

  7. Ben Reply
    November 18, 2020 at 4:09 pm

    Did they fix the part where the giant engines are so far in front of the plane that it is top-heavy?

    No?

    Then no flying.

    • George Reply
      November 18, 2020 at 7:27 pm

      Also: Did they fix the lack of redundancy with the AoA sensor(s)?
      No, since the FAA only demanded that a second AoA sensor be installed on the plane, which is barely helpful, because if one malfunctions it will be hard for the automation to decide which one is faulty. It will be a bit safer in Europe, if the EASA imposes a 3 AoA configuration, but the engine issue will remain regardless.
      I will also avoid this (mainly for everyone to get the message).

  8. Dick Bupkiss Reply
    November 18, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    Yes, of course. I’m not an idiot.

    I’m not crazy about flying in cramped coach seats. But I do occasionally. I have zero concerns about the safety of this aircraft. The comfort? Sure. Whether it’s responsible and safe to fly on any airliner right now at the peak of a raging pandemic? Um, no thank you, we have enough people in our hospitals already, don’t need to add to that. But the plane is perfectly safe, in the hands of a competent pilot. In the hands of an inexperienced airplane-driver, no aircraft is safe.

    I’m a pilot and have been for decades. I would have no qualms whatsoever about flying, or putting my family on, one of these planes. Except for the terrible legroom and cramped bathrooms. Can’t blame Boeing for that, though all the self-appointed aviation safety keyboard warrior morons surely will.

  9. MikefromBerlin Reply
    November 19, 2020 at 1:06 am

    No, nay, never…

  10. O.K. Reply
    November 19, 2020 at 5:47 am

    I think these two things:

    1. It’s probably safe to fly, given the excruciating scrutiny that it has gone under. I’d trust the FAA and the EASA.

    2. That ugly kludge of bastardized engineering with insufficient redundancy should never, ever have been designed in the first place.

  11. emercycrite Reply
    November 19, 2020 at 7:20 am

    Imma wait.

  12. debit Reply
    November 19, 2020 at 7:31 am

    Planes should be designed with giant parachutes. When a system is activated the wings fall off and giant parachutes are deployed to bring the plane down. The system is activated when 2 out of 3 most senior staff onboard agree. The metal tube by itself should be airtight and buyoant in water and carry air for at least a few hours.

  13. James Reply
    November 19, 2020 at 1:09 pm

    Lol. This blog has been and will always be advocates of Boeing it seems. I don’t know whether nationalism, paid content, or simply naive.

    Fact: almost all claim from family victim of Lion Air incident have been settled, but the opposite happens for Ethiopian. You won’t find any news source confirming what I wrote, but feel free to contact lawyers representing said victim’s families. You know I’m right.

    Boeing is still hiding something.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      November 19, 2020 at 1:18 pm

      So I’ll engage. Why would Boeing settle with Lion Air families but not the families of Ethiopian Airlines victims? Lower payouts in Indonesia? What do you think Boeing is hiding…?

  14. carletonm Reply
    November 19, 2020 at 8:05 pm

    No. I don’t trust any Boeing plane created after the McDonnell-Douglas merger, when the bean counters took over from the engineers. I will book an A319/A320/A321 whenever possible; if not, I will watch the booking system for a MAX (7M7/7M8/7M9, etc). If I get to the airport and look out the boarding area window and see scalloped edges on the back of the 737 engines, I will know that the airline switched in a MAX, and will ask to be changed.

  15. Jan Reply
    November 19, 2020 at 10:21 pm

    It’s funny to read the comments here, some handful of indignant anon posters claiming “WiLl NeVeR fLy MaX aGeN” and “Boeing must be punished!” The rest of the several million flyers out there will not care.

    I probably will not fly it (I heard very bad things about AA and UA MAX’s, and I prefer DL to those two) but if a Southwest flight shows up I’ll give it a go.

  16. Michael Martinez Reply
    November 20, 2020 at 10:43 am

    I will avoid flying the Max as much I can, maybe I will never fly on it.
    All those airplanes have been grounded for almost 2 years. It will take a lot to bring them back to update and even more to do the repairs they need to avoid the problem that made them crash.

  17. Forty2 Reply
    November 20, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    Y0u first, Matt.

    This frame is aerodynamically flawed and no software patches can change that fact.

    Will not fly on this obsolete crapwagon.

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