The US aviation authority FAA decided on Wednesday that Boeing's accident-stricken aircraft model will now also be parked at home indefinitely.
The airline's crisis thus worsened further.
President Trump himself announced the decision on Wednesday afternoon local time: Boeing's 737 Max 8 aircraft are no longer permitted to fly on American territory.
”The safety of the American people and others is of paramount importance,” he said.
The decision affects the American companies United, American and Southwest airlines, but also foreign airlines that own any of the approximately 370 planes of the current model that Boeing has delivered so far.
Earlier in the day, the FAA's counterpart in Canada had made the same decision, meaning that the aircraft model is now banned from flying virtually worldwide.
The Canadian transport minister referred to a ”possible, but so far unproven similarity” between this weekend’s crash and the one in Indonesia in October after studying new satellite images from Ethiopia.
It seems that it is these satellite images that also caused the Americans to change their minds so abruptly, after saying as recently as Tuesday that they still saw the aircraft as safe and "lacked sufficient information" to take any action.
FAA Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell defended the agency's U-turn on Wednesday on CNBC, saying the decision was not due to "global peer pressure.".
”"We are a data-dependent and action-oriented authority and we do not make decisions to park aircraft, regulate or even close airports without sufficient data. And in this case, we did not have access to any of that until today."”
Boeing, which was consulted by the FAA and the White House before Wednesday's public announcement, sent out a press release stating that the company stands behind the "precautionary measure.".
”"We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents together with investigators, implement safety improvements and ensure that this does not happen again," Boeing CEO and Chairman Dennis Muilenburg wrote.
The focus going forward is now expected to shift to the approximately 5,000 orders for 737 Max planes that Boeing has already received from customers.
For example, Indonesian Lion Air announced on Wednesday that it had asked Boeing to postpone deliveries of the approximately 200 planes the company has ordered until the investigation into the Indonesian accident in October is complete.
Boeing also appears to be facing increased political pressure at home. On Wednesday, both the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee announced that they are planning investigations and related hearings.
”We must investigate these accidents and determine the causes to ensure that the U.S. aviation industry remains the safest in the world,” said Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
Source: di.se
