Thread by @bopinion

It’s official: The FAA has finally approved Boeing’s 737 Max to resume commercial flights.

But are you ready and willing to get on board? trib.al/8GyD3on

It’s been 20 months since a pair of fatal crashes forced regulators around the globe to ground the once top-selling jet.

The FAA’s blessing will allow Boeing to finally make money off the roughly 450 Max jets it has built but not yet delivered twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Although the approval represents a major milestone for a company that somehow repeatedly managed to make an already devastating crisis worse for itself.

But getting regulators’ approval is only half the battle trib.al/8GyD3on

Due to the global pandemic, the 737 Max will be flying in a very different world than the one it left in 2018:

✈️Passenger air traffic is at 32% of normal levels
✈️Airlines are cutting back their orders
✈️Nobody is interested in buying new planes trib.al/8GyD3on

A quarter of the 450 Max jets in storage are “white tails” — planes whose buyers have backed out, so their tails are unmarked by logos.

1,000 Max jet orders have either been canceled this year or deemed doubtful under accounting rules trib.al/8GyD3on

For airlines that already have 737 Max jets, they won’t be able to take passengers right away because:

🌵 Many of them are parked in the desert
👨🏾‍✈️ Pilots need to do simulator training
💺 Airlines need to implement the FAA’s upgrades
trib.al/8GyD3on

Looking to ride on a 737 Max to close out 2020?

Your best chance to board one may be with American Airlines, which has said it will fly the Max on a Miami-New York route starting on Dec. 29 trib.al/8GyD3on

After the longest grounding of an aircraft in modern U.S. history, it’s natural to ask: Is the plane actually safe?

The short answer is yes. The FAA’s fixes go beyond the software that was blamed for the catastrophes trib.al/8GyD3on

Whatever the risks were around this airplane, the FAA has found and evaluated them.

Why the agency didn’t do this from the start is a different question that features prominently in a congressional push for reforms to the FAA’s relationship with companies trib.al/8GyD3on

Is an air travel recovery realistic?

The best-case scenarios have a vaccine becoming widely available in the spring, still months away, and some travel may never return. So good luck to Boeing and the Max. They’re going to need it trib.al/8GyD3on