ALMOST HALF OF THE OPERATING FLEET OF B737MAX’S NOW GROUNDED AS AMERICA STANDS ISOLATED
(Posted 12th March 2019)
Details came in thick and fast from the afternoon onwards as first the UK and then Germany also followed in the footsteps of other countries – Australia had earlier on already issued a grounding directive for the B737MAX – to ground all aircraft of this type.
This has affected several larger carriers operating out of and into Britain and Germany and all eyes are now on other countries of the EU if they will follow up with their own grounding directives.
Almost half of the world wide fleet of Boeing B737MAX’s is now grounded and the wall building and ring fencing statements from Boeing sound more and more hollow while the assurance of the FAA that the aircraft is air worthy, no longer inspires trust and confidence but has caused collective heads around the world to shake in bewilderment.
The similarities of the Lion Air crash of last October and of the crash of flight ET302 on Sunday are just too striking to ignore and the fall of Boeing’s share price by over 13 percent speaks volumes what the market thinks of the company’s fortunes right now.
While Southwest Airlines from the US has given their passengers the option to rebook their flights to be sure not to travel on a Boeing B737MAX has American Airlines put profits first and will, for now at least until the PR nightmare backlash begins, enforce standards terms and conditions, which for most passengers would require a hefty fee to be paid should they want to opt away from B737MAX operated flights to those using other aircraft.
All eyes are now on the results of the two black boxes of the ET 302 flight and initial feedback and interpretation of data is expected over the coming days already, hopefully shedding more light on what caused the crash.
For updates be sure to watch this space!
