The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association is supporting Boeing’s bid to extend an exemption on equipping two models of the 737 MAX with up-to-date pilot alerting technology. Boeing has until the end of the year to certify the MAX 10 and MAX 7 with the existing alerting system that doesn’t meet current FAA standards. Union President Capt. Casey Murray told Reuters all 737s should have the same alerting system. “We believe in the interest of safety and commonality that it should be certified under the same rules,” Murray said.
The alerting system was cited by investigators into two fatal crashes of MAX airplanes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that prompted a two-year grounding of the newest 737 model. They said the audible and visual alarms distracted pilots who were trying to figure out what was happening to their aircraft. Congress subsequently enacted certification reforms that mandated updated alerting systems for all new aircraft but gave Boeing two years, until the end of 2022, to get its two remaining MAX models certified. Boeing has said it won’t be able to certify them until mid-2023. There is a movement in Congress to extend the MAX exemption. The Allied Pilots Association has opposed the extension, saying the alerting system should be brought up to current standards.
