At a time when aviation regulators across the world have indicated that they would be running assessments of the Boeing 737 MAX independent of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called for an alignment among regulators for re-entry of the grounded aircraft. “The real point is to restore mutual trust among regulators and a complete alignment to ensure that the single certification system works properly as it has for the past 70-80 years. That is the key priority,” said Alexandre de Juniac, director general and CEO of IATA – a trade body representing 290 airlines across the world. Regulators including the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority and even India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have indicated conducting their own validation tests before clearing the aircraft — which saw two fatal crashes within five months, killing 346 people on board. “You lose the effectiveness of the single system of certification which is based on one authority responsible for certification and mutual recognition in the other part of the world, which is the key element. It will make everything complex and create a mistrust in the old system, which I think is a big problem. That is the reason we are urging regulators to align their conditions and schedules,” de Juniac told reporters during a conference call on Tuesday. Earlier this month, The Indian Express reported about DGCA’s plans for conducting independent tests on Boeing’s 737 MAX, which counts Indian budget carrier SpiceJet as one of its customers. A DGCA official had said that while it was still early days to spell out India’s plan of action, a validation of the plane will be conducted to ensure all safety parameters are met. India had grounded the aircraft model in March “until appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations”. On Monday, the US FAA had pointed out that it still has no timeframe to lift the grounding of the aircraft, and that individual countries will decide when the plane can fly again. “Our first priority is safety, and we have set no timeframe for when the work will be completed. Each government will make its own decision to return the aircraft to service, based on a thorough safety assessment,” the US FAA said in a statement. The FAA’s comments followed a meeting held by the US aviation watchdog with international regulators in Montreal, and indicate a deadlock between various regulators on the decision to allow the aircraft’s re-entry into service.
