DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – Southwest Airlines is the latest airline to put the Boeing 737 Max back in the air. The planes were grounded worldwide in 2019 after two deadly crashes overseas on two separate airlines.
Multiple southwest max flights took off Thursday morning and the airline expects to end 2021 with nearly 70 737 Max 8’s in its fleet.
In addition to the FAA-approved changes Boeing made to the MAX, Southwest Airlines said teams have spent the last two years preparing for our safe operation of the MAX after its return to service. Since December, the airlines insists every active Southwest 737 MAX Pilot has completed (or will complete prior to flying the aircraft) additional FAA-required flight training in one of our nine 737 MAX simulators, as well as additional FAA-required computer-based training covering MAX procedures. Every active Southwest Pilot has re-taken Southwest’s original 737 MAX 8 computer-based differences training as a refresher to complement the FAA-required training. Southwest has conducted more than 200 Readiness Flights with its active 737 MAX fleet and completed thousands of hours of work, inspections, and required software updates to the aircraft.
“To be clear, I have the utmost confidence in our ability to safely operate the Boeing 737 MAX 8,” said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly. “In December, I had a chance to fly on one of the more than 200 readiness flights we have conducted since late last year. It was a quiet and smooth ride, like I have experienced on every MAX flight I have taken since Southwest began operating the aircraft in 2017.”
Kelly said he’s hopeful that customers will be reassured to know all that has gone into making the MAX among the most-reviewed planes in the world.
Copyright 2021. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved.
