U.S.-Canada Rift Widens Over Training for Boeing 737 MAX Pilots -- 2nd Update

By Andy Pasztor and Kim Mackrael 

A rift between the U.S. and Canada is growing over how to ensure the safety of Boeing Co.'s grounded 737 MAX planes, as Ottawa's focus on additional pilot training could lead to more delays in getting the jet back in the air.

Canada's transport minister signaled this week that his government could require additional simulator training for pilots of the 737 MAX. That possibility threatens to widen the gap between plans being developed by U.S. authorities to put the planes into service and those of other countries, according to industry officials and others participating in the process.

Efforts to end the grounding in the U.S. already are running months later than initially envisioned due to technical challenges, and any further delays in getting the 737 MAX airborne again elsewhere would intensify the pressure on Boeing. The plane maker faces potential liabilities stemming from two fatal 737 MAX crashes, while its customers are calculating the financial hit from grounded planes and postponed deliveries. The airlines themselves have been forced to rework summer flight schedules and inconvenience passengers. Additional delays due to pilot training could upend schedules over a longer period.

Even if Canada or other nations eventually decide against requiring extra simulator training related to a suspect flight-control system that is being revised, carriers voluntarily could opt for it. Europe's biggest low-cost airline, Ryanair Holdings PLC, plans to put its 737 MAX pilots through extra simulator training, according to people familiar with the carrier's thinking, joining American Airlines Group Inc. in that approach.

"Simulators are the very best way from a training point of view to go over exactly what could happen in a real way and to react properly to it, " Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said. "It's not going to be a question of pulling out an iPad and spending an hour on it."

No formal decision about simulator training has yet been made, a spokeswoman for Mr. Garneau said.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has tentatively decided against mandating additional simulator instruction as part of a package of measures that is anticipated within weeks and includes a software fix for the flight-control system implicated in the two crashes, which happened within five months of each other.

But the issue is heating up. Industry officials said the FAA could change its stance based on input from foreign regulators, as well as on responses by domestic pilot unions and other groups during a public comment period ending April 30.

Aviation regulators in Canada, Europe, China and Brazil previously indicated they would conduct their own safety reviews of the software fix to the automated flight-control system -- known as MCAS -- instead of accepting the FAA's analysis and decision to require only interactive and self-instructional training on laptops or other electronic devices.

Mr. Garneau's remarks are the first explicit break with the U.S. by a foreign regulator and could mean months of additional delays in other countries while extra simulator time is reserved and new training scenarios are developed. Simulators specifically designed to mimic the 737 MAX won't become widely available until autumn or later.

An FAA spokesman declined to comment. Previously, agency officials have said they welcome recommendations from foreign regulators but stressed that the U.S. will act independently based on its review of data and safety considerations.

A Boeing spokesman said the plane maker is working with global regulators and airlines "as they determine training requirements in their home markets."

The global MAX grounding is rippling through airlines' schedules and passengers' travel plans. In the U.S., United Continental Holdings Inc. has taken the jets out of schedules into early July, while Southwest Airlines Co. and American Airlines have removed the aircraft from their flight plans into August.

European regulators previously signaled it could take months for them to assess the FAA's software fix and training requirements, according to industry and government officials on both sides of the Atlantic.

The situation marks a sharp departure from tradition. For decades, major safety decisions by the FAA affecting American-built aircraft were routinely embraced by foreign counterparts. Trust and cooperation have frayed following the second of the two recent 737 MAX crashes.

The FAA has set up a high-level international advisory panel, which includes Canadian representatives, to analyze the software fix and related training issues. FAA officials hope this will help shore up support among regulators and passengers globally, but industry and government officials increasingly suggest that other initiatives may be necessary. Brazilian and European regulators previously raised questions about certain MAX flight-control features during the initial FAA certification of the plane.

Canada already has required additional training for domestic airlines. After a 737 MAX operated by Lion Air crashed off the coast of Indonesia last year, pilots with Canadian airlines that operate the aircraft received training that Mr. Garneau has said went beyond what was mandated in the U.S.

Irish carrier Ryanair made the decision to require extra simulator training as a safety measure even though it isn't required, said one of the people familiar with the carrier's thinking.

Ryanair is one of the world's biggest MAX customers and the largest in Europe, with 135 ordered and options for 75 more. It was poised to receive its first 737 MAX planes this spring. Ryanair already has taken delivery of its first MAX simulator with at least one more pending, another person said.

American Airlines is devising additional simulator drills for its 737 pilots to better handle scenarios similar to those that resulted from the misfiring of the suspect flight-control feature.

Chicago-based Boeing has been devising a software fix for the jet's flight-control system that is expected to rely on two sensors that measure the angle of the plane's nose -- instead of one currently -- and be less aggressive and more easily controllable by pilots.

In its original approval of the MAX, the FAA required minimal additional training for pilots who were transitioning from flying earlier 737 models. In developing the new model, Boeing aimed to keep training requirements at a minimum so pilots and airlines could avoid expensive simulator time.

United said it had no plans to add simulator training unless federal authorities require it. Chief Operating Officer Greg Hart said Wednesday during an earnings conference call that United pilots already receive training on the type of situation pilots faced on both the Lion Air flight and the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed last month.

--Robert Wall, Donato Paolo Mancini, Alison Sider and Andrew Tangel contributed to this article.

Write to Andy Pasztor at [e-mail] and Kim Mackrael at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 18, 2019 21:20 ET (01:20 GMT)

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