Pobeda Airlines has decided to abandon firm contracts for 20 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. This was announced by the general director of the carrier Andrey Kalmykov.
"Yes, they refused firm contracts for 20 Boeing 737 MAX without penalties, "RIA Novosti reports Kalmykov's words on Monday, August 16.
The flights of the Boeing 737 MAX were suspended in March 2019, when 157 people were killed in the crash of an aircraft of this model of the Ethiopian Airlines airline. Before that, in October 2018, 189 people became victims of the crash of the Boeing of the Indonesian company Lion Air.
Boeing admitted that in both cases there was a failure in the operation of the maneuverability performance improvement system. After that, several States suspended the operation of this series of aircraft for security reasons.
In January 2021, the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced the approval of a modified Boeing 737 MAX for operation in Europe. The aircraft's software was updated, the electrical wiring was repaired, it underwent maintenance and retraining of the crew.
A few months later, Boeing recommended to its 16 customers to fix a potential problem with the electrical equipment in the 737 MAX. However, later the media reported that potential electrical problems of this series of aircraft may affect a larger number of components than previously thought.
July 17 US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) The United States ordered American airlines to check more than 2.5 thousand. Boeing 737 for faulty differential pressure switches in the cabin. It was emphasized that such a malfunction could lead to the loss of the crew's working capacity due to lack of oxygen. The media indicated that the airlines will be given 90 days to check and replace the relays.
On July 19, the president of Boeing in Russia and the CIS countries, Sergey Kravchenko, said that the Boeing 737MAX aircraft were certified and resumed flights in almost all countries of the world. According to him, it is expected that this will happen in the near future in both Russia and China.
In August, the FAA announced the need to check all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for fire safety. It was noted that the directive will affect 663 aircraft registered in the United States, and approximately 2204 aircraft worldwide.