Boeing 737 MAX sets to return in India

The Boeing 737 MAX jets may soon resume flights in India after a two-and-a-half-year grounding, a Bloomberg report has said.

The report said India has been satisfied with the plane’s “improved” performance since it was un-grounded in the United States, Europe, China and a number of other markets.

According to the report, Boeing has met India’s own requirements, which included setting up a MAX simulator.

In a statement, Boeing said it continues to work with global regulators to safely return the 737-8 MAX and 737-9 MAX to service worldwide, and deferred the timeline to India’s air safety regulator.

TW gathered that if the U.S. plane manufacturer gets the go-ahead in India, it would end the two-and-a-half-year regulatory grounding of the model in a key travel market.

In anticipation to the recall, India’s SpiceJet Ltd has ordered for more than 100 737 MAX planes with a view to boosting its fleet size and staging a stiff competition.

SpiceJet is India’s second-largest airline by market share, with 13 737 MAX planes grounded and is in talks with Boeing for compensation towards costs and losses it has suffered, TW has gathered.

About 30 airlines and 175 countries have allowed the 737 MAX to return to service following a nearly two-year safety ban.

The ban followed two crashes five months apart which killed 346 people, plunging Boeing into a financial crisis since compounded by the pandemic.

India and China, where Boeing conducted a test flight of the 737 MAX plane on Thursday, are the only two major markets where regulators are yet to give the MAX the go-ahead.