Boeing confirmed late on Monday it will deploy a software upgrade to the 737 Max 8 — the model that crashed on Sunday in Ethiopia and six months ago in Indonesia — making the announcement a few hours after the Federal Aviation Administration said it would mandate “design changes” in the aircraft by April.
Boeing did not reference Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash in connection to the software upgrade. However, the statement did express the company’s condolences to the relatives of the 157 people who died — 18 them Canadian.
The company said in the aftermath of October’s Lion Air Flight crash it has for several months “been developing a flight control software enhancement for the 737 Max, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.”
The software upgrade “will be deployed across the 737 Max fleet in the coming weeks,” it said.
By Tuesday, civil aviation authorities or airlines had grounded about 40 per cent of the world’s fleet of 737 Max 8s.
Ethiopian Airlines and all Chinese airlines grounded their Max 8 planes indefinitely immediately after the crash. Ethiopian has four of the planes remaining in its fleet and was awaiting delivery of 25 more. China has 96 Max 8 jets in service
Indonesia also said Monday it grounded 11 of the aircraft for inspections. As of Tuesday, Caribbean carrier Cayman Airways, South Korea’s Eastar Jet, Singapore-based SilkAir, Brazil’s Gol Airlines, Mexican airline Aeromexico, Comair in South Africa and Royal Air Maroc in Morocco had all temporarily suspended operation of their Max 8s.
On Tuesday, Australia suspended all flights into or out of the country by Max 8s. None of the country’s own carriers fly that model.
Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said it would be “premature” to ground all 41 of those planes currently owned by the country’s air carriers, even though it’s the second such deadly crash for a Boeing 737 Max 8 model in less than six months.
Speaking to reporters in Montreal on Monday, Garneau said he would “without any hesitation” fly on a Max 8.
“I’m reassuring Canadians that we will determine what the cause was [of the Ethiopian] crash,” he said. “This plane already has millions of miles of flying.”
Canada’s two largest airlines say they are confident in the safety of the aircraft.
Air Canada said its 24 Max 8 aircraft have performed “excellently” and met safety and reliability standards.
Calgary-based WestJet said it is “working with Boeing to ensure the continued safe operation of our Max fleet,” which includes 13 Max 8s.
Boeing says it is not issuing new guidance to airlines about the 737 Max 8.
A statement Monday referred questions about the grounding of planes to airlines and aviation authorities. It said “at this point, based on the information available, we do not have any basis to issue new guidance to operators.”
Shares of Chicago-based Boeing slid almost 10 per cent in early trading on Monday. They ended the day down five per cent, halting a surge that has seen the value of the company’s stock triple in just over three years to a record high of $446 US last week.
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