New Boeing 737 Max Electrical Issue Grounds Planes With Both American, Southwest Airlines
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) — It's a little like déjà vu, on Friday Boeing recommended that more than one-dozen of its customers take some of their planes out of service because of a potential electrical issue.
In all, U.S. airlines temporarily suspended the use of more than 65 Boeing 737 MAX jets, with 16 carriers.
The Max was grounded worldwide in March 2019 after two crashes killed 346 people. Regulators in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Brazil and other countries cleared the plane to resume flying after Boeing changed an automated flight-control system that played a role in the crashes.
Boeing said Friday that the recommendation was made "to allow for verification that a sufficient ground path exists for a component of the electrical power system." It did not specify how many aircraft could be involved.
American Airlines removed 17 planes form service after getting the information from Boeing and issued a statement that said, in part, "We have 24 other 737 MAX aircraft in our fleet that are not affected by this issue as they were produced and delivered prior to the ungrounding. We will continue to work with the FAA, Boeing and our union leaders and their safety teams as a thorough assessment of the issue is completed."
Some customers like Southwest Airlines, which began flying the Max again last month after the grounding order was lifted, is a big user.
Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish said 30 of the airline's 58 737 Max 8 aircraft are affected by the notification. While Southwest hasn't experienced any known operational challenges related to the issue, it has removed the 30 planes from its schedule for further review.
Southwest is currently operating a limited schedule with the Max, but Parrish said that the company will swap any flights previously scheduled with the impacted aircraft. It has a fleet of more than 700 Boeing 737s. The company anticipates the issue causing minimal disruption to operations.
Boeing said that it's working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration on the matter.
Shares of Boeing Co. slipped less than 1% before the opening bell Friday.
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