Canada clears Boeing 737 Max for flight nearly 2 years after global grounding

Boeing's 737 Max has been approved to fly again in Canadastarting Wednesday, ending a 22-month grounding that followed a pair ofoverseas crashes that took346 lives and did serious damage to the company's reputation.

Transport Canada announced today it has completed its nearly two-year review of the aircraft and has issued an "airworthiness directive" detailing a series of changes that must be madebefore the Maxcan return to Canadian airspace.

The department said it will complete the final step of the process to clear the plane on Wednesday by lifting a notice to airmen (NOTAM) banning commercial flights of the Max in Canada.

On Thursday,WestJet is expected to become the first Canadianairline to fly the Max again, with a flight between Calgary and Vancouver. Starting Sunday, WestJet plans to operate three weekly round-trip flights between Calgary and Toronto for the next month while it considers adding more routes.

WATCH | How WestJet and Air Canada are preparing for the Boeing 737 Max 8's return

How Air Canada, WestJet are preparing for Boeing 737 Maxs return to the skies

4 years ago

Duration 7:16

Ian Hanomansing goes behind-the-scenes of whats changed in the Boeing 737 Max as well as how Air Canada, WestJet and their pilots are preparing for the planes to return to flight nearly two years after deadly crashes grounded them.

Air Canada, which hasmore pilots and aircraft to prepare, is planning to return its Max fleetto service on Feb. 1. The airline says itwill begin operating the Max on selectflights betweenTorontoandfive Canadian destinations:Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton andWinnipeg.

Sunwing has not announced when it plans to return the Max tocommercial service.

Countries worldwide grounded the Max in March 2019 after two crashes just months apart, in Indonesia and Ethiopia, that killed 346 people including 18 Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

The two crashes exposed serious flaws with the plane's flight-control systemand the jet's certification process.

Somefamilies of Canadians who died inthe crash of anEthiopian Airlines737 Maxin March 2019say they still don't trust the aircraft.

For the past year, victims'families have been calling on the federal governmentto launch an independent inquiry to determine why Canada didn't ground the 737 Maxafter the first crash and what it knew after the second disaster.

"The Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, they keep telling us, 'Trust us,'" said Clariss Moore, who lost her daughter Danielle in the crash. "The public trusted this plane, and they failed us repeatedly. How could you trust when all the promises they've given have been repeatedly broken?

"I don't trust this plane and I will never will."

WATCH | Parents of Ethiopia crash victim still wary of the 737 Max

Chris and Clariss Moore still wary of the 737 Max

4 years ago

Duration 1:39

Chris and Clariss Moore's daughter Danielle died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash of a 737 Max in 2019. The couple says they don't trust Boeing or the U.S. regulator's assurances that the aircraft is safe after what happened.

After the Ethiopian Airlinescrash and an earlier one in October 2018 that killed 189 people, Canada was accused ofrelying too heavily on aviation authoritiesin the U.S. when certifying aircraft. In response, the government said it spent 15,000 hours independently reviewing the proposed changes to the Max and conducting its own test flights.

On top of the design and maintenance requirements, Transport Canada said it's requiring additional training for Canadian airlines' flight crew.

WestJet survey suggests travellershesitant to fly on Max

A year ago, restoring confidence after two fatal crashes would have been a big challenge on its own. Now, Air Canada and WestJetaretrying to dothat during a pandemicwhen, according to WestJet's internal research,travellers are more apprehensive about flying in general and even more uncomfortable with the idea of flying on a Max.

The majority surveyed 64 per cent said they would avoid flying on the Max altogether, according to the latest data WestJet shared with CBC News from the fall.

Prosecutors said two Boeingemployees concealed important information about the MCAS software from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, then covered up their actions.

"The misleading statements, half-truthsand omissions communicated by Boeing employees to the FAA impeded the government's ability to ensure the safety of the flying public," said U.S. AttorneyErin Nealy Cox.

The U.S. Justice Department said on Jan 7. that Boeing agreed to the settlement, which includes money for the crash victims' families.

Families calleddeal a 'slap in the face'

Paul Njoroge's three children, wife and mother-in-law also died in the 2019 crash in Ethiopia. He said that Washington's decision not to pursuecriminal charges against Boeing robbed thevictims' families ofthe justice they deserve.

"It haunts me that decision that was made," said Njoroge. "I'm upset. The [U.S.] Department of Justice should have bought the company executives and key employees at Boeing and try them and charged them criminally [they] knew and they still allowed the planes to fly."

ClarissMoore and her husband Chrisalso called that decision "disgraceful."

"We expected people to go to jail for this," he said. "A crime has been committed. We think Boeing and the FAA should go through the proper channels of this criminal action."

Clariss Moore said shefeels those responsibleat Boeing are hiding behind the company.

"It's just like a slap in the face," she said. "There's no amount of money that could bring back the lives of Danielle and all 246 people. It doesn't sit well for me and my family. They should go to jail."

In a statement, Boeing told CBC News it will "never forget the lives of those lost in the two tragic accidents."

"These events and the lessons we have learned as a result have reshaped our company and further focused our attention on our core values of safety, quality and integrity. We continue to work with Transport Canada, other global regulators and our customers to safely return the 737-8 and 737-9 to service worldwide," the U.S. jet builder said in a statement to CBC News.