Editor's note, April 25, 2019: Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Gary Kelly opened the door today to a fundamental change in the Dallas airline's business model by using aircraft other than the Boeing 737. This editorial, first published on March 15, explores the possibility that problems with the 737 Max could lead the airline to contemplate changing its historic and highly successful business model.
As transportation officials investigate what went wrong on two Boeing 737 Max 8 airliners that crashed, a key question is coming up that could greatly affect passenger safety as well as the business model that has been the secret of success for Southwest Airlines.
“My concern is this is essentially a different airplane than all the earlier versions of the 737,” Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said to Jefferson Public Radio in Oregon. “I want to know how it was that this plane got certified without requiring pilot retraining.”
This is more than an esoteric question. The answer could have a significant impact on key decisions for airline executives in terms of training, which models to stock their fleets with and which routes will ultimately prove profitable.
The key question here is whether the most popular airplane in the world, the 737, has evolved to the point that pilots need different training and certification depending on which model they fly. And if so, can Southwest Airlines, which famously only has one pilot group, all certified to fly the same airplane model, operate the 737 Max if regulators classify it differently?
We don’t yet know why the Federal Aviation Administration didn’t require such certification to begin with. And it should be said that in the end, that might be the right call.
What we do know is that some pilots have complained to federal regulators about inadequate training on the new model. An investigation by DMN reporters Cary Aspinwall, Ariana Georgi and Dom DiFurio found five complaints in a federal database where pilots can voluntarily report problems. One captain called the flight manual "inadequate and almost criminally insufficient."
http://bit.ly/2L4qt03
April 26, 2019 at 02:17AM
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar