List of countries, airlines banning Boeing 737 Max grows, SilkAir replaces it for Hyd, B'luru routes

NEW DELHI: SilkAir, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA), will replace the Boeing 737 Max which it operates to Bengaluru and Hyderabad with an earlier version of the B737. It took the decision on Tuesday after Singapore joined the list of countries that have imposed restrictions on the Boeing 737 Max after fears over its safety following two deadly crashes within five months.

“SilkAir will be flying the Boeing 737 NG (new generation) to Hyderabad and Bangalore instead of the Boeing 737 Max,” said a SIA spokesperson. Singapore's aviation authority has suspended “all variants of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of Singapore.”

Unlike India, a number of countries and foreign airlines have temporarily stopped flying the B737 Max. On Tuesday, Australia’s civil aviation safety authority temporarily suspended airlines from flying B737 MAX jets to or from Australia. China and Indonesia had done so soon after Sunday’s crash of an Ethiopian B737 Max that killed all 157 on board. Aerolíneas Argentinas is grounding its five Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes and so are Ethiopian Airlines, Aeromexico, Cayman Airways and South Africa’s Comair and South Korea's Eastar Jet.

India has not banned the B737 Max. SpiceJet has 12-13 of these planes while Jet’s five B737 Max are grounded due to non-payment of lease rentals. Aviation secretary P S Kharola told the media: “The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is monitoring the Boeing situation very closely. They are also in touch with the manufacturers (Boeing) and FAA (US Federal Aviation Administration). They are also keeping a watch on the action taken by other countries.”

In a statement, SpiceJet said: “The Boeing 737 MAX is a highly sophisticated aircraft. It has flown hundreds of thousands of hours globally and some of the world’s largest airlines are flying this aircraft. We are actively engaged with both Boeing and DGCA and will continue to put safety first, as always. We have already implemented all additional precautionary measures as directed by the DGCA on Monday.”

DGCA on Monday night issued a list of interim safety measures for operating this aircraft. The Indian regulator’s dos and don'ts said the B737 Max must be flown by commanders and co-pilots with minimum 1,000 and 500 hours, respectively. Aviation experts point out pilots of both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airways B737 flights that crashed were hugely experienced.

“This is an issue concerning a potentially disastrous malfunction in this particular aircraft. Till those fears are resolved and issues settled, it is better to be safe than sorry,” said a senior pilot, questioning the DGCA interim safety measures that were issued on Monday night.