According to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), some American Airlines flight attendants with want to be fully versed on what has happened with Boeing 737 MAX and why exactly the plane is ‘safe’ to fly now.
The cabin crew remain fearful of flying the ill-fated jet, despite Boeing nearing regulatory approval for a software update. The aircraft has been grounded after two fatal crashes left 346 dead.
The union said it will consider information from Boeing, US regulators, American Airlines, the carrier’s pilots and others before making a final decision.
“I hear from some flight attendants every day and they are begging me to not make them go back up in that airplane,” APFA President Lori Bassani told reporters. “We want to know without a doubt that it’s safe to fly.”
Boeing, which has been striving to end the MAX’s worldwide grounding, said this week the US Federal Aviation Administration is on track to certify its redesigned flight-control software by mid-December. The manufacturer could then start delivering new MAX jets to the world’s airlines.
American Airlines said last week it will keep Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft off its schedules until next March. The company previously said it would resume the flights by January, cancelling around 140 flights each day in the meantime.
To demonstrate the safety of the aircraft to future passengers, American plans to make “exhibition flights” with executives, workers and reporters before the plane resumes commercial service.
American’s employees must be comfortable with the MAX before it will fly again, the company’s President Robert Isom said.
“After the FAA has given their sign of approval, after our pilots have said ‘Yes we’re ready to go,’ we intend to fly that aircraft so that our team is comfortable,” he said, adding: “So our pilots, our flight attendants, our partners, media – you name it – all of us as executives; we intend to fly that aircraft before it goes into commercial service.”
The union for flight attendants at United Airlines said it wants a global consensus on the plane’s safety before its members will work again on the MAX.
