CAL not affected as some Boeing 737 Max are grounded

(CMR) President and CEO of Cayman Airways Fabian Whorms said the airline's two Boeing 737-8 aircraft currently in service are not affected by the recommendation issued by  Boeing Company today regarding grounding some planes due to an issue with the electrical power systems.

Boeing has announced a new problem with the electrical system of the troubled 737 Max and recommended that the affected aircraft be grounded until the issue is fixed, This will see at least 16 airlines grounding some of the planes. 

Cayman Airways' third Boeing 737-8 aircraft delivered on March 28th is not in service yet and therefore is also not affected.

Boeing said airlines needed to verify that one of the plane's electrical system components is sufficiently grounded.

“Boeing has recommended to 16 customers that they address a potential electrical issue in a specific group of 737 MAX airplanes prior to further operations. The recommendation is being made to allow for verification that a sufficient ground path exists for a component of the electrical power system,” the company said in a release on Friday.

The company said it was “working closely with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on this production issue. We are also informing our customers of specific tail numbers affected, and we will provide direction on appropriate corrective actions.”

The 737 Max was grounded for 20 months worldwide from March 2019 through November of 2020 following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. Although the FAA has approved the fixes that Boeing made to the malfunctioning safety system blamed for the crashes, several countries, including China, have not yet cleared the plane to fly again.

Four US airlines — Southwest (LUV), United (UAL), American (AAL), and Alaska Air (ALK) — have the 737 Max planes in their fleets and are currently flying them. Southwest and United have placed orders for additional 737 Max jets since the grounding was lifted.

Southwest, which owns the most 737 Max planes, said Friday that the issue affects 30 of the 58 jets in its fleet. It says those planes will be replaced by other aircraft resulting in minimal disruption to operations.  United said the problem affects 16 of its 30 Max planes.