Aviation regulator met Boeing about 737 MAX’s return to China
6:13 am Tuesday, September 20th, 2022
BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s aviation regulator said on Tuesday it held a meeting with Boeing last week about the return of the 737 MAX to China, a day before the planemaker’s top executives said they would begin remarketing some jets meant for Chinese customers.
The jet has not flown commercially in China since March 2019, when it was grounded after two fatal crashes. The purpose of the meeting was to review improved aircraft training plans for the model, the regulator said on social media.
CAAC said it would release a revised report when the questions raised at the meeting were resolved.
The day after the Sept. 14 meeting, Boeing’s top executives said the planemaker would begin to remarket some 737 MAX jets earmarked for Chinese customers because it could not wait indefinitely while U.S.-China political tensions snarl deliveries.
Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said resuming deliveries in China was critical to Boeing’s future, but the outlook for selling planes to China in the “near term … a year or two” was negative.
A Boeing spokesperson on Tuesday declined to comment about the meeting with CAAC, saying the company continued to work with customers and regulators including in China to safely return the 737 MAX to service worldwide.
The planemaker said in July that it had about 290 undelivered 737 MAX airplanes and about half were designated for Chinese customers.
(Reporting by Sophie Yu in Beijing, Jamie Freed in Singapore; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)
