FAA Grounds Boeing 737 Max Jets in Reversal of Earlier Stance
Photo Credit: The FAA has grounded all Boeing 737 Max jets in the United States. Pictured is a United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9. United Airlines
Skift Take
The Federal Aviation Administration finally bowed to pressure. The United States followed the world and grounded all Boeing Max jets, including the larger models flown by United Airlines.
U.S. regulators are grounding all Boeing 737 Max jets less than 24 hours after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement saying there was "no basis to order" U.S. carriers to stop flying the airplanes.
The order covers not just the Boeing 737-8 models flown by American Airlines and Southwest Airlines — the type that has been involved in two accidents in five months — but also Boeing 737-9s flown by United Airlines. The aircraft are similar, though United's models are larger.
"The FAA is ordering the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory," the agency said in a statement. "The agency made this decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today. This evidence, together with newly refined satellite data available to FAA this morning, led to this decision."
The FAA did not say when the ban could be lifted, but sug
