When Will the Boeing 737 Max Fly Again and More Questions  

Two crashes within five months -- Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 off the coast of Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019 outside Addis Ababa -- killed 346 people and led to a worldwide flying ban for Boeing Co.’s 737 Max jets, the fourth generation of a venerable brand first flown in 1967. The tragedies and 20-month global grounding battered Boeing’s reputation for safety and transparency, along with its finances. And that was before the pandemic plunged aviation into its worst-ever collapse, leaving Boeing and its best-selling jet to face a long, difficult recovery.

Now that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has ended the longest commercial jet grounding in U.S. history, airlines are expected to resume flying the workhorse jet in early 2021, and some may bring back the Max before 2020 ends. After detailed reviews and scores of test flights, including one with FAA chief Stephen Dickson at the controls, regulators determined the company safely redesigned flight-control software linked to the crashes. The agency also signed off on new pilot training courses that Boeing developed in a stunning reversal of the company’s earlier campaign to minimize training.