Boeing 737 Max Lands in Shanghai for Flight Tests to End Grounding

A Boeing 737 Max jetliner arrived at a Shanghai airport Saturday for flight tests as the U.S. aviation giant seeks approval for the plane to return to service in China after a nearly 30-month grounding following two fatal crashes.

Flight-tracking site FlightRadar24 showed that the 737 Max jet departed from Boeing Field near Seattle at 8:17 a.m. local time. It arrived at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport after stops in Honolulu and Guam.

It was the first time a 737 Max returned to China since the country halted its operation in March 2019 on safety concerns. China was the first country to ground the 737 Max jet after two fatal crashes killed a total of 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia. U.S. congressional investigators concluded in September 2020 that failures by Boeing engineers, deception by the company and significant errors in government oversight led to the crashes.

The jet was since grounded globally. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration cleared the plane in November to resume operations, followed by more than 170 countries and regions including the European Union and Canada.

Boeing has been actively pushing for a comeback of the 737 Max in China, one of its most crucial markets. China has the largest 737 Max fleet after the U.S., with 97 of the 737 Max planes in operation before the suspension.

Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s chief executive, said on an earnings call July 29 that the company expected the 737 Max to win approval in more countries including China by the end of the year.

Boeing said in a letter to Caixin Monday that it is working with Chinese regulators to conduct flight and simulator tests to help them better understand the changes made by Boeing to the plane. A person close to the matter said Boeing will take a simulator test and if all goes well a first flight test in China will be set for Aug. 11.

Chinese aviation officials last month signaled they are open to conducting flight tests of the plane in a step toward returning it to the air.

In March, the deputy head of the country’s aviation regulator Dong Zhiyi said China has three main criteria that need to be met before allowing the Max to fly again: Changes in design aimed at fixing the plane’s problems need to be approved by China; pilots need to be retrained to fly the jetliners following those changes, and the conclusions of the Ethiopian and Indonesian crash reports need to be clear.

Aviation experts said the return of 737 Max in China is affected by more complicated factors including the China-U.S. tensions and the slump in air travel amid the pandemic.

“Boeing is also facing compensation demanded by airlines due to the grounding and challenges to rebuild passengers’ confidence in the jet,” one expert said.

The global grounding of 737 Max, Boeing’s best-selling model, has caused great financial pressure on the company. Boeing registered net losses in six consecutive quarters since the last quarter of 2019. Boeing returned to profit of $567 million in the second quarter as the plane returned to service in more countries.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)

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