The Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents the 15,000 American Airlines pilots, published a statement strongly opposing an extension of the equipment exemption for the Boeing 737-7 MAX and Boeing 737-10 MAX. Recently, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker proposed an amendment that would give Boeing until September 2024 to gain FAA approval.
Boeing currently has until December to gain FAA approval and the company has said they don’t believe they will be able to meet that deadline.
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“Boeing needs to proceed with installing modern crew alerting systems on these aircraft to mitigate pilot startle-effect and confusion during complex, compound system malfunctions,” APA President Capt. Edward Sicher said. “Once these systems are installed and pilots have been properly trained on them, our crews will be better able to identify system failures and prioritize corrective actions that could save lives.”
In a statement from the APA, it was noted that its pilots fly more than 300 Boeing 737’s for American Airlines.
“We oppose any extension of the exemption and don’t agree with Boeing’s claim that pilots could become confused when moving from an airplane without the modern alert system to one that is equipped with it,” Capt. Sicher said. “Nothing could be further from our flight deck reality.”
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