Qatar Airways delays Boeing MAX delivery until cause of crash known

Reuters
MUSCAT: Qatar Airways has delayed the April delivery of a Boeing 737 MAX until the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines crash involving the same type of plane is known, its chief executive said on Monday.

“We will not be able take this until we know exactly what the result of the investigation is and how long it will take the airplane to get airborne again,” Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker told reporters in Muscat.

Regulators grounded the worldwide MAX fleet after an Ethiopian Airlines MAX crash killed all 157 people on board this month, wiping nearly 15 percent off shares in the world’s biggest planemaker.

“We have confidence in the Boeing airplanes and we are sure they will find the issue they had which is still under investigation,” Al Baker said.

Qatar Airways, one of the largest Middle East carriers, is a major Boeing customer. It has ordered 20 MAX jets and committed to buying a further 40.

“I am sure that the aircraft will get back into the skies soon and that Boeing will get to the bottom of what happened and if there is something technical wrong that they will find a fix for it,” he said.

Attention has focused on the anti-stall system, known as MCAS, and the sensors that activate it. MCAS pushes the plane’s nose down if it believes it is ascending at too steep an angle.

Qatar Airways will attend a Boeing briefing this week on software and training updates for the MAX, Baker said.

The MAX is an upgrade to Boeing’s best-selling 737 narrowbody jet and only entered service in 2017. Boeing has booked orders worth more than $500 billion for the MAX.

Baker said he believed the worldwide grounding was driven by public perception. Passengers around the world asked airlines to change flights or refunds to avoid flying on the MAX after the Ethiopian crash.

“The regulator had to act to give confidence to the people, that the regulators were looking after their interests,” he said.

(Reporting by Sylvia)

مسؤول: الخطوط القطرية تؤجل استلام طائرة بوينج ماكس لحين معرفة سبب تحطم طائرة الخطوط الإثيوبية

وطلبت الخطوط الجوية القطرية شراء 20 طائرة بوينج 737 ماكس.

مسقط (رويترز) – قال الرئيس التنفيذي للخطوط الجوية القطرية يوم الاثنين إن الشركة أجلت استلام طائرة بوينج 737 ماكس مقررا في أبريل نيسان لحين معرفة سبب تحطم طائرة تابعة للخوط الجوية الإثيوبية من نفس الطراز.

وقال أكبر الباكر لرويترز على هامش مناسبة في مسقط ”لن يكون بمقدورنا الحصول على هذه حتى نعرف بالضبط ما نتيجة التحقيق والمدة التي سيستغرقها تحليق الطائرة مجددا“.