The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has rescinded its grounding order for the Boeing 737 Max, clearing the way for U.S. carriers to return the aircraft type to their active fleets.
Boeing 737 Max 8 and 737 Max 9 aircraft have been grounded in the United States since March 13, 2019, following two deadly crashes of the Max 8 aircraft in flights operated by Ethiopian and Indonesia's Lion Air. The U.S. grounding followed a similar action by most of the rest of the world's major aviation authorities.
During that 20 months of grounding, the FAA developed an Airworthiness Directive, published on Wednesday, specifying necessary design changes for the aircraft as well as new training requirements. FAA administrator Steve Dickson also underwent the training himself and piloted the aircraft on a test flight.
"Based on all the activities we have taken during the past 20 months, and my personal experience flying the aircraft, I can tell you that I am 100 percent comfortable with my family flying on it," Dickson said in a video message posted on Wednesday.
Boeing Max aircraft will not immediately return to service. All U.S. airlines that operate Max aircraft must have their pilot training programs for Max aircraft approved by the FAA, and they also must complete required maintenance on Max aircraft that have been parked since the grounding order.
The FAA is the first regulator around the world to reverse its grounding order. Dickson indicated that regulators in Europe, Canada and Brazil could follow suit in a matter of days, while other regulators—particularly China—will likely take a longer time, according to the BBC.