Boeing 737 Max engine issue will take up to a year to fix, company says

Boeing told lawmakers its planned hole for an motor rumor connected each 737 Max jets will return up to a year, delaying certification of nan 737 Max 7 and Max 10 airliners.

In written responses to questions from Sen. Tammy Duckworth, chair of nan Senate Subcommittee connected Aviation Safety, obtained exclusively by CBS News, Boeing says it has assembled a squad of method experts to "quickly thrust guardant a safe and compliant solution" to an rumor that could origin nan 737 Max motor anti-ice strategy to overheat and harm nan engine.

Boeing officials had antecedently indicated they were aiming for a hole to beryllium fresh successful 9 to 12 months.

"For nan information of nan flying public, I'm relieved that Boeing committed to fixing nan known information defect on-board its 737 MAX 10 earlier attempting to certify and put yet different flawed craft into commercialized service. I'm besides appreciative that Boeing took my interest pinch nan MAX 7 to bosom and agreed to prioritize fixing this information defect successful each MAX craft wrong nan adjacent twelvemonth alternatively than its original 2026 timeline," Duckworth said successful a connection to CBS News. "When it comes to nan information of passengers and crew, this hole cannot travel soon enough—and I will beryllium intimately monitoring Boeing's efforts to guarantee it stays connected way to permanently reside this information defect and support nan flying nationalist safe."

Boeing received a waiver from nan Federal Aviation Administration to proceed operating nan 737 Max 8 and 9 variants that are already certified and successful work until a hole was developed and implemented successful 2026. The institution was seeking a akin waiver for nan Max 7, which was nearing last FAA certification anterior to a door sheet blowing out of an Alaska Airlines flight midair successful January.

The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which was forced to make an emergency landing, is seen during an investigation by nan National Transportation Safety Board successful Portland, Oregon, Jan. 7, 2024. NTSB/Handout via Reuters

Following demands from Duckworth that nan FAA contradict nan Max 7 a information waiver, Boeing withdrew nan request. The institution will not activity to afloat certify nan Max 7 aliases Max 10 until nan rumor is resolved.

The institution told Duckworth nan activity to hole nan anti-ice rumor is complicated.

"Small changes made to nan motor inlet tin alteration nan behaviour of nan aerial arsenic it enters nan engine, impacting motor performance. The solution action process for nan imaginable overheat rumor will require a afloat knowing of information and compliance impacts connected each systems," nan institution said.

On Tuesday, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said nan Chicago-based bearer told Boeing to extremity building nan 737 Max 10 planes they person connected bid and alternatively attraction connected producing 737 Max 9 planes.

"I deliberation it's intolerable to opportunity erstwhile nan Max 10 is going to get certified," Kirby said astatine a J.P. Morgan investor conference. "If and erstwhile nan Max 10 gets certified, we'll person them backmost to Max 10s, but Max 10 is retired for america until it's certified."

Kirby acknowledged United is besides weighing an bid pinch rival Airbus for its A321neo aircraft. Any A321 bid would apt lead to a corresponding bid cancellation astatine Boeing.

"If we get a woody … to work, past we'll do something, and if we don't, past we won't, and we'll upwind up having much Max 9s," Kirby said.

Southwest Airlines is emotion nan effect of nan certification delays of nan 737 Max 7. The hose announced this week it would person to trim its 2024 capacity plans and reevaluate its net expectations for nan twelvemonth because it will person less Max deliveries this twelvemonth than expected. Southwest flies an all-737 fleet and has hundreds of Max 7s connected order.

A number of grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 craft are shown parked astatine Victorville Airport successful Victorville, California, March 26, 2019. Reuters/Mike Blake

In August 2023, nan FAA issued an Airworthiness Directive, a regularisation designed to reside nan rumor connected nan Max 8 and 9 airplanes, that "was prompted by a study indicating that usage of motor anti-ice (EAI) successful barren aerial for much than 5 minutes during definite biology and operational conditions tin origin overheating of nan motor inlet soul tube beyond nan worldly creation limit, resulting successful nonaccomplishment of nan motor inlet soul tube and terrible motor inlet cowl damage."

The FAA approved Boeing's guidance to mitigate nan problem connected nan existing fleet of Max craft while Boeing engineered a hole by May 2026. The FAA told airlines that pilots should limit nan usage of nan anti-ice strategy to little than 5 minutes until Boeing's hole was available.

While nan rumor has ne'er occurred in-flight, Boeing wished it was theoretically imaginable nether circumstantial upwind conditions, and successful a worst-case scenario, could consequence successful components breaking off.

Captain Dennis Tajer, spokesperson for nan Allied Pilots Association, nan national representing American Airlines pilots, shared a photograph of a Post-it statement he uses arsenic a reminder erstwhile flying a 737 Max astir nan impermanent operating procedures for nan anti-icing system.

Captain Dennis Tajer, spokesperson for nan Allied Pilots Association, uses a Post-it statement arsenic a reminder erstwhile flying a Boeing 737 Max level astir nan impermanent operating procedures for its anti-icing system. Captain Dennis Tajer

The 737 Max 7 is nan smallest of nan 4 737 Max variants, while nan Max 10 is nan largest. Boeing has a backlog of much than 4,000 737 Max jets.

Boeing's 737 Max statement has been astatine nan halfway of aggregate tragedies, scandals and adjacent calls since being put into service.

Two 737 Max 8 crashes, one successful 2018 and one successful 2019, led to nan full fleet being grounded. Investigations wished those crashes, which killed a full of 346 people, were nan consequence of mendacious readings causing an automated strategy connected nan planes to transportation nan noses of nan aircrafts down.

The full Max fleet was grounded for months pursuing nan 2nd crash. All Max 9 craft successful nan U.S. were temporarily grounded a 2nd clip pursuing January's doorway sheet incident.

An aerial photograph shows Boeing 737 Max airplanes parked connected nan tarmac astatine nan Boeing Factory successful Renton, Washington, March 21, 2019. Reuters/Lindsey Wasson

In:
• Boeing
• Boeing 737 Max
• Tammy Duckworth
• Airlines