Ian Patrick, FISM News
American Airlines took to the skies in a Boeing 737 Max on Wednesday to instill customers’ confidence in the return of the plane. The flight itself was 45 minutes from Dallas, Texas to Tulsa, Oklahoma and only included American Airlines employees and executives, as well as some reporters.
CBS Transportation Correspondent Kris Van Cleave was one of those aboard the flight:
Waiting to board this @AmericanAir @boeing 737Max. This demo flight is essentially the first time anyone from the public has flown a Max since it was grounded in March 2019. More on @CBSEveningNews and @CBSThisMorning pic.twitter.com/IlYIMLVkBs
— Kris Van Cleave (@krisvancleave) December 2, 2020
On November 18 the Federal Aviation Administration lifted its ban on the 737 Max jets, which was put into place after two separate crashes involving these jets happened within 5 months. Now that the ban is lifted, airlines can now begin training pilots to eventually continue flying the jets.
Wednesday’s flight with American is the first time the jet carried people since the grounding who were not regulators or other industry staff.