By Andy Pasztor and Kim Mackrael
A rift between the U.S. and Canada is growing over how to ensure
the safety of Boeing Co.'s grounded 737 MAX planes, as Ottawa's
focus on additional pilot training could lead to more delays in
getting the jet back in the air.
Canada's transport minister signaled this week that his
government could require additional simulator training for pilots
of the 737 MAX. That possibility threatens to widen the gap between
plans being developed by U.S. authorities to put the planes into
service and those of other countries, according to industry
officials and others participating in the process.
Efforts to end the grounding in the U.S. already are running
months later than initially envisioned due to technical challenges,
and any further delays in getting the 737 MAX airborne again
elsewhere would intensify the pressure on Boeing. The plane maker
faces potential liabilities stemming from two fatal 737 MAX
crashes, while its customers are calculating the financial hit from
grounded planes and postponed deliveries. The airlines themselves
have been forced to rework summer flight schedules and
inconvenience passengers. Additional delays due to pilot training
could upend schedules over a longer period.
Even if Canada or other nations eventually decide against
requiring extra simulator training related to a suspect
flight-control system that is being revised, carriers voluntarily
could opt for it. Europe's biggest low-cost airline, Ryanair
Holdings PLC, plans to put its 737 MAX pilots through extra
simulator training, according to people familiar with the carrier's
thinking, joining American Airlines Group Inc. in that
approach.
"Simulators are the very best way from a training point of view
to go over exactly what could happen in a real way and to react
properly to it, " Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said.
"It's not going to be a question of pulling out an iPad and
spending an hour on it."
No formal decision about simulator training has yet been made, a
spokeswoman for Mr. Garneau said.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has tentatively decided
against mandating additional simulator instruction as part of a
package of measures that is anticipated within weeks and includes a
software fix for the flight-control system implicated in the two
crashes, which happened within five months of each other.
But the issue is heating up. Industry officials said the FAA
could change its stance based on input from foreign regulators, as
well as on responses by domestic pilot unions and other groups
during a public comment period ending April 30.
Aviation regulators in Canada, Europe, China and Brazil
previously indicated they would conduct their own safety reviews of
the software fix to the automated flight-control system -- known as
MCAS -- instead of accepting the FAA's analysis and decision to
require only interactive and self-instructional training on laptops
or other electronic devices.
Mr. Garneau's remarks are the first explicit break with the U.S.
by a foreign regulator and could mean months of additional delays
in other countries while extra simulator time is reserved and new
training scenarios are developed. Simulators specifically designed
to mimic the 737 MAX won't become widely available until autumn or
later.
An FAA spokesman declined to comment. Previously, agency
officials have said they welcome recommendations from foreign
regulators but stressed that the U.S. will act independently based
on its review of data and safety considerations.
A Boeing spokesman said the plane maker is working with global
regulators and airlines "as they determine training requirements in
their home markets."
The global MAX grounding is rippling through airlines' schedules
and passengers' travel plans. In the U.S., United Continental
Holdings Inc. has taken the jets out of schedules into early July,
while Southwest Airlines Co. and American Airlines have removed the
aircraft from their flight plans into August.
European regulators previously signaled it could take months for
them to assess the FAA's software fix and training requirements,
according to industry and government officials on both sides of the
Atlantic.
The situation marks a sharp departure from tradition. For
decades, major safety decisions by the FAA affecting American-built
aircraft were routinely embraced by foreign counterparts. Trust and
cooperation have frayed following the second of the two recent 737
MAX crashes.
The FAA has set up a high-level international advisory panel,
which includes Canadian representatives, to analyze the software
fix and related training issues. FAA officials hope this will help
shore up support among regulators and passengers globally, but
industry and government officials increasingly suggest that other
initiatives may be necessary. Brazilian and European regulators
previously raised questions about certain MAX flight-control
features during the initial FAA certification of the plane.
Canada already has required additional training for domestic
airlines. After a 737 MAX operated by Lion Air crashed off the
coast of Indonesia last year, pilots with Canadian airlines that
operate the aircraft received training that Mr. Garneau has said
went beyond what was mandated in the U.S.
Irish carrier Ryanair made the decision to require extra
simulator training as a safety measure even though it isn't
required, said one of the people familiar with the carrier's
thinking.
Ryanair is one of the world's biggest MAX customers and the
largest in Europe, with 135 ordered and options for 75 more. It was
poised to receive its first 737 MAX planes this spring. Ryanair
already has taken delivery of its first MAX simulator with at least
one more pending, another person said.
American Airlines is devising additional simulator drills for
its 737 pilots to better handle scenarios similar to those that
resulted from the misfiring of the suspect flight-control
feature.
Chicago-based Boeing has been devising a software fix for the
jet's flight-control system that is expected to rely on two sensors
that measure the angle of the plane's nose -- instead of one
currently -- and be less aggressive and more easily controllable by
pilots.
In its original approval of the MAX, the FAA required minimal
additional training for pilots who were transitioning from flying
earlier 737 models. In developing the new model, Boeing aimed to
keep training requirements at a minimum so pilots and airlines
could avoid expensive simulator time.
United said it had no plans to add simulator training unless
federal authorities require it. Chief Operating Officer Greg Hart
said Wednesday during an earnings conference call that United
pilots already receive training on the type of situation pilots
faced on both the Lion Air flight and the Ethiopian Airlines flight
that crashed last month.
--Robert Wall, Donato Paolo Mancini, Alison Sider and Andrew
Tangel contributed to this article.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com and Kim Mackrael
at kim.mackrael@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 18, 2019 21:20 ET (01:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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