China Still Has Major Concerns About Boeing 737 MAX Safety

While the Boeing 737 MAX is allowed to fly again in Europe and North America, it is still on the ground in China.

 

According to the Chinese regulator, there are still serious concerns about the safety of the aircraft. Once those concerns have been resolved, China will test the aircraft extensively before flying again.

The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide since spring 2019 after two plane accidents within months. In both cases, a safety system was found to push the aircraft’s nose down repeatedly, even when it was not necessary. The crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed hundreds of people.

After the second accident, China was the first country to chain all 737 MAX devices. China is an important market for Boeing, but orders from the country almost dried up due to the flight ban of the 737 MAX and the problematic trade relations between the United States and China.

Boeing recently indicated that it expects the Chinese market to be the primary growth engine for the aircraft industry in the next twenty years. Chinese airlines are expected to purchase some 8,600 new aircraft at that time, worth $ 1.4 trillion.