by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:51 AM ET, Tue November 5, 2019
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said Monday it believes the grounded fleet of Boeing 737 MAX planes will return to service during the first quarter of 2020.
According to Reuters.com, EASA officials said they expect to approve the MAX planes to fly in Europe again in January, but authorities and airlines will need time to make preparations, which could result in a delay of commercial flights for 1-2 months.
"If there are training requirements (and) coordination to be done with the EU member states to make sure everyone does the same thing at the same time, this will take a bit of time," EASA executive director Patrick Ky told Reuters. "That's why I'm saying the first quarter of 2020."
Officials from Boeing said they aim to return the 737 MAX to service by the end of 2019 in the United States, pending the approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other government representatives.
The FAA has been tasked with vetting Boeing's software updates designed to avoid the single faulty airflow sensor malfunction that caused two of the planes to crash, killing a total of 346 people.
The EASA is carrying out its own checks, including simulator and flight tests, before allowing MAX flights to resume in Europe. European officials traveled to Iowa last week to begin an audit of the updated software.
"There has been a lot of work done on the design of the software," Ky continued. "We think there is still some work to be done."
When asked if regulators will require additional simulator training for MAX pilots that would likely increase the delay for the MAX fleet's return, Ky would not expand on the possibility.
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