United Airlines to resume Boeing 737 MAX flights in February
20 December, 2020
United Airlines became the latest carrier to announce a period frame to fly the Boeing 737 MAX again, saying Friday the jet would resume flights in February.
The plane, which was out of service for 20 months following two fatal crashes, will re-enter United's schedule on Feb 11, with service from Denver and Houston.
The move occurs the heels of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) November decision allowing the jet to fly again following upgrades to its software and new protocols on pilot training.
United said there is still additional work to accomplish on its jets before they are able to go back to service with the carrier. Both 737 MAX crashes, in Ethiopia and Indonesia, claimed 346 lives and led to its worldwide grounding.
"Nothing is more important to United than the safety of our customers and employees," a United spokesman said.
"United's MAX fleet won't go back to service until we have completed a lot more than 1,000 hours of focus on every aircraft, including FAA-mandated changes to the flight software, additional pilot training, multiple test flights and meticulous technical analysis to guarantee the planes will be ready to fly."
United said it could be "fully transparent" with customers and will rebook or refund customers who don't want to fly on the aircraft.
The MAX returned to commercial service on December 9 following an uneventful flight on low-cost Brazilian carrier Gol.
In the United States, American Airlines is scheduled to resume flights on the MAX later this month.
Source: japantoday.com
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