The U.S President Donald Trump has announced an emergency order to ground the Boeing 737 Max fleet. This decision will make the United States the last major country to do so after 2 of the aircraft crashed in a 6-month span. Trump said during a meeting in the White House, “We’re going to be issuing an emergency order to ground all flights of Boeing 737 Max 8 and 737 Max 9 and planes associated with that line. Trump said in his remarks that any affected aircraft currently in U.S air space would be held on the ground once they land. Boeing has also announced that it would be grounding its fleet worldwide.
Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly. Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. I see it all the time in many products. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better. Split second decisions are….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2019
The FAA (U.S Federal Aviation Administration) issued a statement following the president’s announcement. The agency said, “The FAA is ordering the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by US airlines or in US territory. The agency made this decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today. This evidence, together with newly refined satellite data available to FAA this morning, led to this decision”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2019
Trump had come under pressure to ground the planes after he had spoken regarding the crashes with the CEO of Boeing, Dennis Muilenburg. The CEO of Boeing said that the aerospace company is working to fix the issue. Trump said, “Boeing is an incredible company. They are working very, very hard right now. Hopefully, they will very quickly come up with the answer but until they do the planes will be grounded”.
Trump’s decision follows just hours after the European Union and Canada grounded their fleet of the planes. It is noteworthy that China, Australia, India, and the UK have grounded the aircraft. 2 Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 MAX jets bound for Gatwick and Birmingham turned around in mid-air and headed back to Istanbul. The American Airlines said that its teams were working to rebook customers due to fly on its 737 Max. The company operates 24 aircraft of Boeing 737 MAX. Norwegian Air Shuttles also indicated that it will seek compensation from Boeing after the low-cost carrier grounded its fleet of 737 MAX 8 aircraft.