WASHINGTON: Boeing’s 737 MAX resumed passenger flights in the US for the first time yesterday after a 20-month safety ban was lifted last month.
American Airlines Flight 718 departed Miami around 10:40 a.m., bound for New York’s LaGuardia and is scheduled to land soon after 1 p.m.
American and planemaker Boeing have sought to reassure the public over the plane’s safety after it was cleared by US regulators in November to resume flights. The flight was observed by two media helicopters to the airport’s north. It headed north into broken clouds.
A Reuters/IPSOS poll shows that more than half of passengers are wary of taking the jet when reminded of two fatal crashes that led to the grounding.
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The MAX was grounded in March 2019 for 20 months after two fatal crashes in five months killed 346 people.
