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Virgin Australia has reached an agreement with Boeing to restructure its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft deliveries after two fatal crashes involving this type of aircraft. These changes come after the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people in March and the Indonesian Lion Air crash that killed 189 people in October last year.
Families from both the tragedies are suing Boeing after they believe preventable measures could have been taken to prevent this from happening again.
However, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said that the pilot involved in the Ethiopian Airlines crash did not ‘completely’ follow procedures that could have prevented the malfunction that likely caused the crash.
“When we design these systems, understand that these airplanes are flown in the hands of pilots,” he said.
Virgin Australia will now order 15 new Boeing 737 Max 10 aircrafts as a replacement for the Max 8 planes that were already on order. The first delivery was expected in November this year but has now been pushed back to July 2021.
CEO Paul Scarrah states that Virgin Australia will ground all 737 Max 10’s until the new shipment has arrived.
“Safety is always the number one priority for Virgin Australia. We will not introduce any new aircraft to the fleet unless we are completely satisfied with its safety,” he said.
The 737 Max 10 is the largest of the 737 fleet which allows for greater seat capacity and operating efficiencies. This aircraft is the ideal type to meet many of the Virgin Australian Group’s commercial and market needs.
Last week Boeing announced its earnings fell 21
