The United States’ aviation regulator has ordered halting manufacturing expansion of the controversial Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The brunt of this decision might be borne by top Indian airlines such as Air India Express and Akasa Air.
Multiple Indian aviation companies such as Air India Express, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air have already placed their orders for the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which could now face a delay of several months, if not an year, due to defects in the manufacturing of the passenger plane.
Boeing aircrafts have been under intense scrutiny over the quality of its manufacturing and machine parts after a panel of the plane blew-out mid air in an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month. This near-catastrophe led to intense checks and a probe into the manufacturing of the aircrafts.
Boeing 737 Max passenger planes have a history of reporting minor problems in the panels, as well as other manufacturing defects, according to the probe. The aircraft was also taken out of circulation earlier when two crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX 2018 and 2019 saw over 340 casualties.
The US aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement, “We will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737 MAX until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.”
How can this impact Indian airlines
Just before the announcement of the FAA on halting the manufacturing expansion of the aircraft, Indian airlines such as Air India Express, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air placed an order for hundreds of Boeing 737 Max passenger aircrafts.
As part of a $70 million deal, Air India Express placed an order for 181 737 Max aircraft in 2023, while Akasa Air and SpiceJet have orders for 204 and 142 Max jets respectively, reported NDTV. Now, it is expected that the delivery of these orders can be delayed, leading to a delayed expansion plan for these airlines.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India inspected all the Boeing 737 Max aircrafts in circulation recently, and raised several safety concerns regarding the same. The FAA’s decision on the Boeing aircrafts can lead to unpredictable implications for Indian aircrafts, especially keeping in mind the safety hassles attached to the aircraft.