The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a hearing on Wednesday questioning FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson on his agency’s oversight of aircraft certification. It was really all about how he and his agency have responded to congressional inquiries into its handling of Boeing’s 737 Max, which has been grounded since March 2019.
Committee members accused the FAA of stonewalling their requests for documents and more. Chairman Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, said Dickson demonstrated “at best an unwillingness to cooperate with congressional oversight,” while Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, suggested Dickson may be part of a cover-up.
As the hearing shows, the 737 Max saga still carries all its questions about the FAA’s opacity and Boeing’s influence in its own regulation, though there’s an element of consequence tied up in the airplane’s pending return to service, and like everything these days, it has to do with the coronavirus.
The prevailing expectation is that the airplane will fly again as the FAA and Boeing work towards recertifying it. United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines all have 737 Max airplanes, and their leadership has signaled hope as to their return to service. Each still has an open order for more of the planes. Dickson did not offer a new estimate for the 737 Max’s clearance, but were the airplane returned to service sooner rather than later, the airlines that fly it would harness additional and much-needed power to stem the downturn-related bleeding.
In the meantime, the 737 Max’s idleness adds extra volatility. Both Southwest Airlines and American Airlines said late last year that they had lost about $1 billion together because of the 737 Max grounding, well before the virus and subsequent downturn. That number has increased, no doubt, and it isn’t going down anytime soon. In a recent filing, Southwest Airlines said it expects the 737 Max grounding will continue contributing to its prevailing cost pressures. American Airlines has outlined the looming threat of losing its financing for its 737 Max planes. United Airlines made similar statements in its first-quarter filing.
A flying 737 Max would be a huge boost for Boeing, too, which has slowed production of numerous airplane products and laid off workers because of it. Boeing has also lost money by sharing in the costs of its grounded planes, though the terms with airlines are not clear. Southwest Airlines and American Airlines declined a request for comment on the terms of its settlement with Boeing regarding the parked 737 Max.
The pandemic has shattered years of financial gains in aviation. Companies everywhere are losing money, including both airlines and manufacturers. As they continue to fly without many customers, airlines are working desperately to cut costs by offering voluntary separation packages and sidelining, or in some cases retiring, older and costlier airplanes. The 737 Max’s appeal, as with all innovative technologies, lies in its long-term ability to save airlines money by offering more efficiency.
Airlines that have 737 Max airplanes have in its grounding lost both an opportunity to save money during a period of suffocating losses and suffered for maintaining a useless asset. Whenever the 737 Max returns, it will be a welcome boost to aviation’s recovery, allowing affected airlines to worry about one less looming problem.
