Some airlines ground the Boeing 737 MAX 800 aircraft “as a precaution”

Airlines around the world that fly the new Boeing 737 MAX 800 model are starting to ground their fleets of the new next-gen aircraft.

China’s aviation regulator have already ordered local airlines to stop flight with the 800 MAX model after an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft of the same model crashed yesterday morning. The aircraft is relatively new to the skies, having only been in commercial use since 2017.

China’s local regulators say, “Airlines must suspend commercial operations of all Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes before 18:00 local time.”

An Ethiopian Airlines 733 Max 800 aircraft crashed several minutes after takeoff yesterday morning killing all 157 people on board. Less than five months ago a Boeing 737 MAX 800 aircraft crashed minutes after it took off from Jakarta.

Read The Thaiger’s earlier report about the Ethiopian Airlines crash HERE.

Although it’s too early to speculate the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines disaster, and initial investigator or regulators are yet to make a statement, aviation experts say the same model plane encountering problems in the same part of its flight is highly unusual and statistically concerning.

Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines, and others, will be affected by the suspension. More than 90 of the Boeing 787 Max 800 models are in use in mainland China.

In addition to the suspension in China, other airlines have halted 787 MAX 800 operations. Ethiopian Airlines has said it has now grounded its fleet of the jets as a safety precaution. Cayman Airways said in a statement that it has grounded its two 737 MAX 800 jets “until more information is received”.

Regionally in Asia, many of the budget airlines fly the 737 MAX 800 series aircraft including VietJet, Lion Air, Garuda, Silk Air, Korean Air, Nok Air and Malaysia Airlines.

Several North American airlines operate the same aircraft and have said they are monitoring the investigation.

Southwest Airlines flies 31, while American Airlines and Air Canada each have 24 in their fleet.