Indian Civil Aviation authorities have barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from flying the Boeing 737 MAX until more training

 

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has found 90 SpiceJet pilots unfit to operate the Boeing 737 Max aircraft and has barred them from flying it until they successfully complete another round of training.

“…we have barred these pilots from flying Max and they have to retrain successfully for flying MAX. We will take strict action against those found responsible for the lapse,” said DGCA director Arun Kumar, without specifying what the issues were.

A spokesperson for the airline said DGCA, the civil aviation regulator, “had [an] observation on the training profile” followed by 90 Pilots. “…therefore, as per the advice of DGCA, SpiceJet has restricted 90 pilots from operating MAX aircraft until these pilots undergo retraining to the satisfaction of DGCA.” The spokesperson added these pilots continue to remain available for other Boeing 737 aircraft.

SpiceJet, which has 650 pilots trained for Boeing 737 MAX operations, is the only Indian airline to operate them. It has 11 such aircraft in its fleet. Billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa Air, which plans to begin operations this summer, has ordered 72 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

The spokesperson said the restriction will not impact 60 daily flight operations by MAX aircraft. “…144 pilots are required to operate these 11 aircraft. Of the 650 trained pilots on the MAX, 560 continue to remain available, which is much more than the current requirement,” the spokesperson said.

Boeing 737 MAX resumed operations in December 2020 two years after they were grounded after the 2018 Lion Air and 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crashes, which left 346 people dead. A faulty flight handling system meant to keep the plane from stalling as it ascends was blamed for the crashes. The automated system was found to have pushed the nose of the plane downwards.

Aviation authorities in the US later directed Boeing to revamp the planes and implement new training protocols for the pilots. The ban on Boeing 737 MAX was lifted in India in 2021.

US airlines are dropping their face mask requirement

 

United, American, Southwest, Delta, Alaska and other airlines late Monday said they were dropping their face mask requirement effective immediately given a federal judge’s ruling in Florida and the White House response to it.

The mask mandate, announced in January 2021, had been set to expire Monday. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that it would keep it in place until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus that is responsible for the majority of cases in the country.

It was the mask mandate’s fifth extension despite repeated requests from airlines and other travel industry officials to ease restrictions.

The court ruling moved up the timeline, barring any appeals, so passengers boarding flights late Monday are doing so without masks for the first time in nearly two years. Airlines began requiring masks before the government did, with JetBlue Airways the first carrier to announce the move.

The airline’s policy was quickly matched by other carriers.