Vote of confidence

At the end of the day, Airbus’s launch of the much-vaunted A321XLR, the extra long-range version of the A321neo almost stole the show.

Almost … because like a scene from the movie Rocky where the punch-drunk fighter picks himself off the canvas and hits back when everyone least expects it, Boeing landed a crucial vote of confidence in its beleaguered MAX program.

The decision by IAG, parent group of British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling and LEVEL to sign a letter of intent for 200 MAX8 and higher passenger-capacity MAX10 aircraft, certainly seized the headlines, albeit tempered by speculation that the potential deal will involve a big financial sweetner.

And as our expert European-based aviation correspondent John Walton points out in his excellent wrap of what happened at Paris among the “big guns”, the word MAX was not mentioned once by IAG in its announcement. As Walton writes: “It is hard to consider a letter of intent a particularly strong vote of confidence if the customer refuses to name the product.”

His report starts on page 24.

Indeed this “brand reputation” issue will become more complicated for Boeing the longer the MAX grounding goes on. More than 350 MAX aircraft delivered to more than 50 airlines remain “parked up” at various sites around the globe and Boeing continues to face problems in rectifying the software issue implicated in the fatal crashes of both Lion Air Flight 610 in October last year and Ethiopian Flight 302 in March.

As Australian Aviation goes to press there is still no firm indication of when the MAX flightdeck issues might be fully fixed. It seemed Boeing was on the brink of a solution when, early in July, it was revealed a further glitch had been discovered by FAA pilots during simulator training.

According to FlightGlobal, a data-processing problem affected the ability of the simulator pilots to perform a procedure to counteract runaway stabiliser trim – a product of failure in the original MCAS (manouvering characteristics augmentation system) believed to be integral to the cause of the two fatal accidents.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who has been openly contrite about the company’s responsibilities in the wake of the MAX accidents, said on Twitter early in July that the “additional flight condition” must be addressed “to reduce pilot workload and ensure the safety of the airplane and the flying public.”

Recertification of an updated version of the MAX MCAS is fundamental to getting the aircraft back off the ground.

And that’s before the world’s regulators decide whether or not to lift their individual bans on the MAX traversing their skies, notwithstanding issues of overall pilot confidence in the fix. Some pilots have been more than vocal in their criticism of the type and the training involved before flying it.

Which takes us back to that problem of brand reputation – why, maybe, IAG was more than reluctant to name the aircraft, and why there is speculation that the MAX designation may have to be dropped altogether from the aircraft moniker to avoid potential issues around the confidence of the paying public.

There is a huge amount at stake financially. In March, Bloomberg put the value of the MAX order book, including aircraft already delivered, at a staggering US$600 billion.

The largest operator of the 737 Max prior to the grounding, Southwest Airlines, recently indicated that it expects the grounding to last beyond early October. Other observers suggest it may be further towards the end of the year.

Watch this space.

‘Like a scene from the movie Rocky where the punch-drunk fighter picks himself off the canvas’