737 MAX Inches Closer to Re-Certification

The troubled Boeing 737 MAX is inching ever so closer to getting back in the air.

Civil aviation authorities and airline flight crews from the U.S., Canada, Brazil and the European Union will be meeting Monday in London to review Boeing’s proposed re-training of pilots and flight crews who would be working the 737 MAX planes.

That’s according to ABC News, which spoke to officials from the Federal Aviation Administration.

It’s a significant step for the aircraft. The 737 MAX has been grounded for commercial flights since March 2019 after two separate crashes killed 346 passengers and crew. From June 29-July 1 of this year, FAA test pilots and engineers flew a 737 MAX and put the plane through various scenarios to evaluate the changes Boeing made.

On Friday, the EU Aviation Safety Agency also completed its test flights of the Max in Vancouver, British Columbia, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Canada completed its own independent test flights in late August.

Airlines have been forced to park nearly 2,000 aircraft as the demand for air travel remains suppressed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In late July, Boeing said cancellations continued to outpace new orders, but new orders are nonetheless coming in.