Chinese aviation officials have said that they are open to conducting flight tests on Aviation giant Boeing's 737 Max, a step toward lifting the aircraft’s grounding in that nation after more than two years, according to people familiar with the matter.
Details of a validation flight for the Max in China are yet to be finalized, but the discussions are a sign of possible progress in what has become a lengthy standoff over the plane.
Boeing is planning to send a delegation of around 35 pilots and engineers to meet with regulators in late July after they undergo weeks of quarantine in China.
Its being believed that, It could still take multiple months even after a Validation flight takes place today owing to the heightened trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
China’s regulators in March said they had “major concerns” about the plane, including design changes, new pilot training and the causes of the two Max crashes. But they have said little about why they are taking so much longer to assess the redesign and clear the plane than regulators in the U.S., Europe and Canada.
Their lengthy review has grown some speculations that politics is a factor now that the plane has been cleared by more than 170 countries.
“It’s nothing to do with aviation, safety or aviation safety,” Richard Aboulafia, a long-time watcher of the aerospace industry at the Teal Group, said in a recent interview. “It’s way above our pay grades, way above our heads. It’s geopolitics.”
The fate of the Boeing's plane is not only entangled in U.S.-China relations, but it’s also seen as a possible bargaining chip in negotiations between the two countries over aviation trade issues and new jet orders.
China understands it very clearly that it depends on the U.S. technology and market for its Upcoming new flagship jetliner's success, and China will need U.S. approval if it ever exports the C919 aircraft, while American engine and component makers like General Electric Co. stand to benefit as the counterpart to the 737 Max moves forward.
Another person familiar with the discussions said China authorities are in talks about performing Max simulator sessions, but declined to say what the prospects are for an actual flight.
Both simulator runs and flight tests preceded the decision to lift the ban in the U.S. and Europe, but some nations haven’t required them before allowing the plane to resume normal operations.
China was the first nation to ground the Max, acting within hours of a fatal crash in Ethiopia on March 10, 2019, and hasn’t allowed the single-aisle workhorse to fly since, crimping jet sales in Boeing’s largest overseas market.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lifted the Ban in November 20, and the European Aviation Safety Agency and Transport Canada followed in January 21.
Under aviation treaty agreements, the FAA took the lead role in recertifying the Max, working closely with the handful of nations that have existing airliner manufacturing sectors. As has occurred with other nations, China has the option of validating the FAA’s work under the treaty.
Though FAA has provided China with technical briefings about the work, typically, one of the final steps before a certification is a test flight. Pilots for the FAA, EASA and Transport Canada all conducted such flights shortly before lifting their flight bans.
Though hopeful, Boeing has previously sent delegations to China since the grounding and there’s no guarantee the recent talks will result in the flying ban being lifted.
The Max was grounded for 18 months in the U.S. after the second of two crashes; 346 people were killed in the two accidents. Both crashes were at least partly caused by a flight-control system that malfunctioned, repeatedly prompting the plane to dive on its own.
