The long-grounded 737 Max will be able to fly again for European airlines by January, according to the head of the European Aircraft Safety Agency (EASA). The final steps include a 30-day comment period on the proposed approval order.
Patrick Ky, EASA chief, told the Paris Air Forum earlier in the week that “We wanted to carry out a totally independent analysis of the safety of this aircraft, so we performed our own checks and flight tests. All these studies tell us that the 737 MAX can return to service. We have started to put in place all the measures. It is likely that in our case we will adopt the decisions, allowing it to return to service some time in January.”
Once EASA issues its new directive next week, there will be a 30-day public comment period, after which a final order will be issued. Numbers of European airlines have 737 Max planes in storage and on order; worldwide, the biggest customer for the plane is Ryanair, which has 210 on order and has indicated it might want 200 more than that.
