EULESS, Texas — Pilots and flight attendants from Fort Worth-based American Airlines will meet with Boeing’s CEO, chief pilot and other executives for a three-day briefing in Seattle next month as the airplane manufacturer tries to complete software modifications and restore confidence in the 737 MAX.
"The meetings will take place on Dec. 2 through 4 and include pilots, safety experts, commentators, and journalists," said Lori Bassani, a 33-year veteran flight attendant and president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.
“We want to look them in the face and ask them the hard questions,” she added.
Bassani said American and its work groups are still preparing for the 737 MAX to return to service in March 2020, even though the FAA has yet to recertify the aircraft as safe for flight.
Still, she admitted some flight attendants remain apprehensive about working on the MAX.
“I hear from flight attendants every day and they’re begging me not to go back up in that plane. By the time March comes around, that should change,” Bassani said.
She and other senior leaders from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, or APFA as it is known, spoke to reporters on Thursday. The union represents 28,000 flight attendants for American Airlines.
Bassani said they’re looking to American’s pilots to determine when the MAX is safe to return to flight.
“We have some of the most talented and trained pilots in the world,” she added, “We trust what they say.”
“I’m very optimistic for March 5,” said Capt. Patrick O’Rourke, an American Airlines pilot and Vice President of the Allied Pilots Association.
He said on Thursday that he expects the 737 MAX to be certified by the end of the year and about a month or so to train American’s 4,200 737 pilots on the software changes.
O’Rourke said that pilots will get web-based training on the updates.
American’s current fleet of 24 737 MAXs will all go to the airline’s maintenance base in Tulsa, Okla. for the software modifications. Eight of the impacted aircraft remain parked in long-term storage at Roswell, NM, O’Rourke said.
Flight attendants said they are working to get the airline and Boeing to host Town Hall meetings at all of American’s major flight attendant bases to answer questions and restore confidence.
Bassani said flight attendants want factual information about changes to the 737 MAX when they visit Seattle – not only to help them understand what happened but also so they can reassure their customers.
Governments worldwide grounded the Boeing 737 MAX jets in March 2019 after two fatal crashes.
The first happened on Oct. 29, 2018 when pilots of Lion Air Flight 610 lost control of their 737 MAX as they departed from Jakarta, Indonesia. The airliner, with 189 passengers and crew on board, crashed into Java Sea 13-minutes after take-off. No one survived.
Investigators discovered flight control problems – FAA-approved software on the aircraft pushed the nose of the plane down while pilots struggled to raise it. An investigation revealed a design flaw with an on-board software system called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System – or MCAS.
Boeing and the FAA sent advisories to airlines and pilots about the potential problem, but the danger was not fully realized until another deadly crash this spring.
On March 10, 2019, a 737 MAX operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In this disaster, 157 people died.
“We lost some trust and confidence in the FAA after those last two crashes,” said Bassani complaining that the regulators were too cozy with the manufacturers. “The most important thing on flying that airplane is safety. By the time we take it up in the air, we’ll know it’s safe to fly.”
She said the APFA would also be watching to see how United Airlines and Southwest Airlines return their 737 MAXs to flight.
More on WFAA:
- Boeing chairman says CEO won't get bonus until Max flies
- American Airlines announces direct flights from DFW to New Zealand
- Lion Air 737 Max crash report points to design flaws, pilots, maintenance
- American Airlines feels pinch of Boeing Max groundings
- Boeing replaces executive who oversaw 737 Max, other planes
