MIAMI – American Airlines is preparing to fly the Boeing 737 Max for the first time in nearly two years.
That’s the jet that was grounded worldwide nearly 21 months ago after its involvement in two fatal crashes.
The airline ran a short practice flight out of Miami International Airport on Tuesday.
American Airlines will be the first carrier to reintroduce the controversial aircraft back into their fleet, saying they’ve done everything they could to make them safe and that pilots have had extensive training.
In fact, about 100 American Airlines team members had a chance to board a test flight on Tuesday at Miami-International Airport to get reacquainted with the plane. It’s the first time in nearly two years one of these aircrafts was in the air.
Since March 2019, numerous steps and safety measures were put in place to make sure the planes were up to par.
“You’ve have thousands of hours of maintenance to bring them back online, you have depending on the company, pilot training that is up to two hours or more before each pilot can be certified on that airplane, so it’s quite a bit of work,” said Stephen Lloyd, Senior Safety Consultant, JMF Consulting Inc.
American Airlines will have two flights a day from Miami International Airport to New York’s Laguardia Airport beginning on Dec. 29th to Jan. 4th. After that, the aircraft will be gradually phased into American’s fleet.
So, how do frequent American Airlines passengers feel about getting on Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft?
“Of course, I would get back on,” said traveler Donny Lala. “Accidents do happen, you gotta move on.”
Added traveler Vance Fundora: “Typically traveling by air is way safer than traveling by vehicle, and considering the unfortunate incidents that did occur, I’m sure Boeing did everything in their power to make sure that wouldn’t happen again.”