737 MAX Completes First US Flight in Nearly Two Years

The Boeing 737 MAX made a triumphant return to U.S. airspace today for the first time in 21 months, flying without issue from Miami to New York on American Airlines and landing safely at LaGuardia Airport.

It was a milestone flight for the troubled aircraft, which has been grounded since March of 2019 following the deaths of 346 passengers and crew on two separate flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration, confident that Boeing had not only made the necessary software changes that were causing the 737 MAX to nosedive but also retrained almost 1,000 pilots, approved the plane to return to the skies.

In fact, FAA chief Steve Dickson, a former pilot for Delta, flew the plane himself on one of its three test flights.

Prior to departure of the inaugural flight this morning, the captain on American Flight 718 made an announcement welcoming and thanking the passengers, saying he had “the utmost confidence in the safety of the aircraft” and noting that his wife was on board as was the mother of his First Officer.

In the gate area, American Airlines President Robert Isom addressed passengers, employees and the media.

.@AmericanAir President Robert Isom discusses the “extraordinary” efforts to get 737 Max recertified for today’s 1st domestic flight in nearly 2 years- in Miami. Airlines has 24 Max planes available now, will have 34. More than 1,000+ pilots retrained. @NBCNews @NBCNightlyNews pic.twitter.com/QhWj23FzYt

— Sam Brock (@SamBrockNBC) December 29, 2020

The flight left at 10:24 a.m., eight minutes ahead of schedule, and landed at 1:12 p.m., 18 minutes before its scheduled arrival. The flight is scheduled to take off again from LaGuardia at 2:30 p.m. for the return trip to Miami.

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Now American – and, next year, United and Southwest when they begin flying the 737 MAX – will have to convince a skeptical public that the aircraft is safe.

A new poll out Monday from Reuters/Ipsos found that 57 percent of Americans surveyed said they were not likely to fly in a Boeing 737 Max when they were informed about the plane's history. About 37 percent say they would be likely to fly in it once it has been in the air for six months or more.

A story on CNN.com also showed that some people are either not aware of the 737 Max's history or have forgotten about the jet's issues. Of the US fliers surveyed, 39 percent said they were familiar with the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes in October 2018 and March 2019, down from about 50 percent in a previous poll.

CNN also noted that as of Monday, only one main cabin ticket was still available for purchase on the afternoon return flight to Miami, although this inaugural flight did have American Airlines employees and media as part of its passenger list.