In an email memo to all its loyal clients today, Ethiopian Airlines has announced that it will return the previously troubled Boeing airliner into operations. This follows months of rigorous monitoring and painstaking preparation the company has undergone to ensure that the B737 MAX returns back to the skies in the first week of February 2022.
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Last year, Boeing reached an agreement with the families of the victims of a March 2019 crash in Ethiopia of one of its 737-Max aircraft that claimed 157 lives. As part of the agreement, Boeing accepted responsibility for Ethiopian Airways flight 302 losing control shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.
The B737 MAX has undergone design modification work and a rigorous recertification process which lasted for over 20 months. Accordingly, the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Transport Canada, the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA), and other authorities have recertified the fleet type for commercial service.
Ethiopian Airlines had promised that they would be among the last carriers to return this aircraft breed to the skies. So far, 36 airlines have returned the B737 MAX to commercial service, with over 329,911 revenue flights and more than 820,040 total flight hours.
Throughout the recertification process, Ethiopian Airlines has been closely monitoring the design modification work and the entire process, and they have made sure that their pilots, engineers, aircraft technicians, and cabin crew are confident about the safety of the fleet type. We are fully prepared to take the B737 MAX back to skies!
