After nearly two years on the ground, Boeing’s 737 MAX is becoming an increasingly common sight once again. This is particularly evident in the US, where four airlines have flown the type since its recertification. This week, Simple Flying had the chance to speak to Bryce Rea, who flew as a passenger on each of these milestone journeys.
Post-recertification return to service
Last November, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) became the first authority to grant the MAX recertification. This brought an end to a 20-month grounding period forced by the crashes of Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, which bore striking similarities.
Despite this, the US was not the first country to see the type return to commercial service. This took place in Brazil, where low-cost carrier GOL flew the world’s first post-recertification MAX flights on December 9th.
Since the FAA’s recertification, four US airlines have flown the MAX: Alaska Airlines, American, Southwest, and United. Bryce Rea, who runs the YouTube channel Skylite Productions, was a passenger on all of these sectors, and shared his experiences with us.
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The grounding and recertification period was a long and difficult process for Boeing. However, Rea is confident that the manufacturer and the FAA used their time well. He states:
“Now that the recertification process has finished, and the aircraft has been cleared to fly again, I have complete faith that the FAA’s process was thorough and has addressed the issues that needed to be fixed. It’s also worth mentioning that the airlines have a lot invested in this aircraft as well.”