With the announcement that the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has green-lit the Boeing 737 MAX for reentry into service, flydubai is to start preparing the aircraft for passenger service.
The move comes after the ungrounding by other authorities and a 20-month review. The GCAA’s approval is detailed in a Safety Decision which sets out the specific requirements every Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in flydubai’s fleet must meet:
- Software enhancements and additional protections to the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS);
- Other software updates not related to the flight control system;
- A wire separation modification;
- A thorough inspection to ensure the aircraft are free of debris;
- Pilot training has been enhanced and includes both classroom and full-motion simulator training;
- Conduct operational readiness flights.
The plan looks a little like this
flydubai has a fleet of 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and three Boeing 737 MAX 9 that are currently grounded. The aircraft have been maintained during their grounding and will be brought back to service one by one.
This follows an exhaustive 20-month review that has involved the manufacturer, regulators, engineers, scientists, researchers, mechanics and pilots whose sole objective has been to safely return the aircraft to service.
In Quotes
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, commenting on the return to service, said:
“The Boeing 737 MAX is an integral part of flydubai’s fleet and I have full confidence in the aircraft as it returns to passenger service. Safety is the founding principle of our business. We said that we would only return the aircraft to service when it was safe to do so and that time is now.”
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, commenting on the work of the regulator, said:
“The GCAA has played a key role alongside other regulators during the 20-month review of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. We would like to thank the GCAA for their diligent and exhaustive work. The GCAA has outlined a clear and exacting framework of enhancements and modifications to the aircraft that must be met before returning the aircraft to passenger service along with additional and mandatory pilot training. flydubai will comply with each and every one of the requirements before we allow the aircraft to rejoin our fleet.”
Currently, no date of Has been set when flydubai’s Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will enter service. The routes on the flydubai network where the aircraft will operate will be announced at a later date.
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