The Boeing 737 Max is on track to be back in service by the
fourth quarter, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said at the Global Business Travel
Association annual convention. The company has "worked through the
technical details" and is in the final stage of preparing software updates
to the aircraft type, he said, and it plans to submit that for certification
with the U.S. FAA in September. Boeing also is updating training and
educational materials for the Max, he said. More than 30 regulators around the
world will have to approve the aircraft before it can return to service on a
global level.
Both United and American have removed the Max from their
schedules through early November, while Air
Canada and Southwest
both recently extended its removal through the this year.
GBTA executive director Scott Solombrino asked Muilenburg
about GBTA's recent
poll of buyers indicating travelers' fears of flying on Max aircraft. Muilenburg
said he is trying to demonstrate the "amount of rigor" going into the
regulatory work, including about 500 flight tests conducted with the new
software. Muilenburg has flown on some of those flights. "The respect and
confidence of the flying public is important to us," Muilenburg said.
"We know that trust has been damaged over the last few months, and we are
working hard to re-earn that trust going forward."
Muilenburg also spoke to many of the upcoming projects on
the table, including the new widebody 777X that's expected to enter service late
next year. Features include larger windows, increased storage space for
carry-on luggage and advanced LED lighting to simulate different times of day,
such as sunrise and sunset, he said.
In addition, Boeing is working on technology that will
transform air travel over the next decade. As work on cost-effective
supersonic aircraft technology continues, Muilenburg expects hypersonic
technology—in which aircraft can travel five or six times the speed of sound,
enabling any city pair to be connected in a matter of hours—to become a reality
within 15 years. Muilenburg also said low-orbit space travel "will become
fairly routine" over the next few decades.