NetFlix's " Downfall : The Case Against Boeing " is the buzz of the town ! Netflix described the whole B737 saga as , " Investigators reveal how Boeing’s alleged priority of profit over safety could have contributed to two catastrophic crashes within months of each other."
We thought about it , devoted sometime to collect the dates and make the Boeing B737Max journey into a 'timeline', that not only highlights the beginning and downfall of the project , it has collected the dates of comeback into the industry as well !
Built to compete , built to carry the legacy of its predecessors , Boeing’s fuel efficient 737 Max programme was to update company’s B737NG - the narrow body segment champion. Boeing and other aviation leaders threw their weight behind the aircraft & planned the routes according to that.
Airbus was expected to get a tough fight for its A320 Neo programme, Max orders were burgeoning , but there was a twist to the tale , two consecutive Fatal crashes, and the bird was grounded worldwide !
Crash Investigation : Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Rick Larsen (D-WA) report said, "There was tremendous financial pressure on Boeing and the 737 MAX program to compete with Airbus’ new A320neo aircraft. Among other things, this pressure resulted in extensive efforts to cut costs, maintain the 737 MAX program schedule, and avoid slowing the 737 MAX production line."
The race to dominate the Narrow body market segment against the Airbus A320Neo gave birth to the B737Max programme !
Lets take a look on the timeline of events, that shaped the journey of B737 Max starting year 2010 till date .
► December 1st , 2010 : Airbus - Europe introduced the upgraded A320neo (New engine Option) , the direct competitor of B737 NG.
► August 30th , 2011 : Boeing came back with announcement of the B737 Max programmes & models would be -7, -8 and -9.
► November 3rd , 2011 : Within 2 months time, Boeing got 600 Max order commitments from eight airlines.
► May 20th , 2014: Boeing said in a presser that the Max programme has received around 2,000 orders worth $209 billions.
► Month of October - 2014 : Boeing initiated the production of B737 Max parts and assemblies.
► December 8th - 2015 : The Boeing 737 Max aircraft rolls off for the first time from the production line.
► January 29th - 2016 : B737 Max takes its first test flight at the Renton Municipal Airport .
► March 9th 2017 : Boeing announced that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has certified the 737 MAX.
► May 4th - 2017: Malindo Air , subsidiary of Indonesian budget airline Lion Air became the launch customer of 737 Max .
► May 22nd - 2017: Commercial journey starts , B737 Max’s first commercial flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore .
► October 29th - 2018: Indonesia based Lion Air flight # 610 - a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed into the Java Sea , killing all 189 pax on board.
► 29th October 2018 : Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee issues preliminary investigation report on the accident indicating that the aircraft's system computer had received erroneous data on its takeoff vector from sensors. It highlighted a bulletin from Boeing instruction to pilots how to deactive an automated system [ read as MCAS] that could initiate a nose dive to prevent a stall in such cases .
► Nov-7th , 2018 : The FAA issues an AD [ airworthiness directive ] for B737 Max-8 and Max-9, warning that repeated nose-down commands from automated MCAS , if not deactivated, might make it difficult for pilots to control the aircraft .
► Nov-21st , 2018 : Boeing statement : Cooperating with investigators and remains confident in the safety features of the B737 Max.
► March -10th , 2019 : Ethiopian Ailines flight # 302 , B737 -8 Max , crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , killing all 157 onboard.
► March -12th , 2019 : Sen. Mitt Romney urged the FAA to follow the lead of the European Union, Indonesia and Australia by grounding the B737 Max-8.
► March-13th , 2019 : FAA grounded the B737 Max aircrafts .
► April- 2nd , 2019 : Boeing promised a proper investigation from scratch using "thorough and methodical approach" to a patch for anti-stall software linked to MCAS that triggered two crashes.
► April- 4th , 2019: Boeing admits its anti-stall software MCAS is partly to blame for the two crashes & promises to rectify the malfunction." It's our responsibility to eliminate this risk ," says Muilenburg, the CEO. "We own it and we know how to do it."
Graphic Courtesy : The Seattle Times / Mark Nowlin
► April - 8th, 2019: American Airlines cancelled 5,000 flights on the B737 Max, removing it from bookings through June 5th .
► Oct. - 22nd , 2019 : Boeing choose Stan Deal to replace Kevin McAllister as “ Head of Commercial Airplanes - Boeing” .
► Dec.- 23rd , 2019: Change of head : Muilenburg resigned as Boeing CEO . Boeing said, independent chairman David Calhoun will take his place.
► Jan.- 9th , 2020 : Internal disturbances : Boeing released hundreds of internal messages that prompted further questions about the B737 Max's development, "This airplane is designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys," one employee wrote .
► Jan-13th , 2020 : David Calhoun took the lead as Boeing's third CEO in the past five years .
► Jan- 29th , 2020 : Boeing reported a full-year loss of $636 million for the year 2019 , first of its kind on an annual basis since 1997.
► Feb. - 4th , 2020: Bloomberg reported that Boeing has secured $13 billion to weather a potential cash crunch.
► Feb. -22 , 2020: Reuters reported that Boeing inspections have found debris in dozens of fuel tanks on undelivered B737 Max planes.
► 29th June , 2020 : Flight tests : The US aviation regulator [FAA] started formal test flights for Boeing's troubled 737 Max - its first recertification flight , one of the final steps remaining before it can return to service.
► JUL- 1st , 2020 : The Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing completed the recertification test flights on the 737 Max, a key milestone toward the plane’s return to service.
► Aug - 6th , 2020 : FAA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for an airworthiness directive (AD) that will mandate a number of design changes to the aircraft and procedures , including software modification of MCAS.
► Aug- 26th , 2020 : Transport Canada became the first non-American Regulator to begin test flights of the B737 MAX aircraft.
► Sept.- 11th, 2020 : The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) completed its test flights of the Boeing 737 Max ahead of its possible recertification and return to service later in the year.
► Sept.-14th, 2020 : The top engineers overseeing the design of Boeing’s B737 Max told congressional investigators that they weren’t aware of key design decisions later identified as flaws in two fatal crashes .
► Sept-16th , 2020 : House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure decried "serious flaws & missteps in the design, development, & certification of the aircraft." , Came heavily on 'FAA' & 'Boeing'.
► Sep-30th , 2020 : Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Chief Steve Dickson conducted a nearly two-hour evaluation flight of a Boeing 737 MAX .
► Oct-7th , 2020 : The Federal Aviation Administration released a draft report proposing training requirements for 737 Max pilots, another step towards the agency’s certification of the grounded jet.
► Oct -16th , 2020 : European aviation regulator , EASA declared Boeing 737 MAX aircrafts safe to fly in Europe !
► Nov 18th , 2020 : The Bird was free in U.S as well , FAA lifted the 20 months ban on Boeing 737 Max Aircrafts , released Airworthiness Directive for necessary changes to the Aircraft and procedures for return to service.
► 04th December 2020 - Ryanair placed confirmed order of 75 Boeing MAX 8200s - the first big order since it's grounding.
► 09th December 2020 : Brazilian GOL airlines became the first airline to resume scheduled flights of the Boeing 737 MAX since its grounding in 2019.
► 29th December 2020 : American Airlines resumed scheduled 737 MAX flights , the first U.S based airline to do so.
► 21st March 2021 : Southwest signed an agreement to buy 100 B737 Max jets from Boeing - the largest order for the aircraft since its grounding.
► 30th Jun 2021 : United Airlines placed an order of 150 MAX-10's and 50 MAX-8's.
► 17th Nov 2021 : Akasa Air , India's newest Indian airline-to-be announced that the carrier has ordered 72 B737 MAX airplanes.
► 2nd December 2021 : China's air regulator cleared the Boeing 737 Max to return to sky with technical upgrades , and by now more than 180 countries
out of 195 had already lifted the ban.
► 6th January , 2022 : All - Airbus carrier Allegiant ordered 50 Boeing B737 Max aircraft.
► Jan 21st , 2022 : Indonesia's Lion Mentari Airlines completed its first test flight of a Boeing 737 Max , more than three years after one of the carrier's jets plunged into the Java Sea.
► 1st Feb 2022 : Ethiopian Airlines operated one of it's Boeing 737 MAX for the first time since the noted crash nearly three years ago , that killed all 157 people on board and the whole 'Downfall' took shape.
