China delays restart of 737 MAX deliveries amid safety checks
CHINA’S aviation regulator has temporarily halted the restart of 737 MAX jet deliveries to the nation, according to a person familiar with the matter, as Boeing grapples with a raft of safety issues.
The decision to delay the resumption of 737 MAX deliveries was made after Boeing in late December recommended inspections following the discovery by an international airline customer of a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance, the source said.
The delay is not linked to the subsequent Alaska Airlines incident where a door plug blew off a different model of Boeing jet mid-flight, the source added, asking not to be identified because they are not authorised to speak publicly.
A representative for the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) did not respond to a request for comment. A Boeing representative in China declined to comment.
Boeing has been largely shut out of China’s aviation market this decade, having not handed over any of its 737 MAX planes directly to the country since 2019. The 737 MAX was grounded globally that year following two fatal crashes.
Hopes were raised for the restart of 737 MAX deliveries last month when China signed off on the first shipment of another type of Boeing jet – the 787 – in four years. Juneyao Airlines, one of China’s largest privately owned carriers, accepted its newest 787 Dreamliner in late December.
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Days later however, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it was closely monitoring targeted inspections of 737 MAX airplanes to look for a possible loose bolt in the rudder control system.
And then in early January, there was a much more serious accident when a desk-sized plug for an optional door on an Alaska Airlines flight came free of a 737 MAX 9’s fuselage, exposing 177 people on board to the fear of being pulled into the evening sky at 16,000 feet (4,900 m).
The CAAC made a decision to delay 737 MAX deliveries after that first loose bolt hiccup in the rudder control system, the source said, and is now asking airlines to make safety checks on all Boeing aircraft as part of routine checks before the Chinese New Year holiday.
Chinese airlines do not fly the type of aircraft that was involved in the Alaska Air door plug accident.
The Wall Street Journal earlier on Monday (Jan 15) reported that Boeing’s long-awaited delivery resumption of its 737 MAX jets to China faced fresh delays, saying that China Southern Airlines, one of several Chinese carriers with undelivered MAX jets, is planning to conduct additional safety inspections on those aircraft. BLOOMBERG
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