An official at Europe’s top aviation regulator said he is impressed with changes made to Boeing’s much-maligned fleet of 737 MAX airplanes and believes the plane is safe enough to be flown above European skies before the end of the year.
Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, said the jet passed a series of test flights in September, and the agency was preparing final documents that would clear the way for the fleet to be used.
“Our analysis is showing that this is safe, and the level of safety reached is high enough for us,” Ky said during an interview about the jet. “What we discussed with Boeing is the fact that with the third sensor, we could reach even higher safety levels.”
Ky said Boeing’s addition of a synthetic sensor to monitor whether the plane is pointing up or down would address the faulty machinery that caused two plane crashes involving the model in a crash off the coast of Indonesia in 2018 and another in Ethiopia five months later.
The news is a major victory for the Chicago plane-maker, which has experienced a number of setbacks surrounding the fleet that culminated in former president and CEO Dennis Muilenburg stepping down in December 2019. The fleet of jets was grounded in March 2019 after two high-profile crashes killed more than 300 people in the span of several months.
Federal Aviation Agency chief Steve Dickson said his department is still reviewing the safety of the model but stressed that he was “very comfortable” when he flew the plane himself last month.
Shares of Boeing jumped 5.5% Friday morning after news of the EASA’s decision rippled across the pond.
