FAA Chief to Test Boeing 737 MAX Himself

The man who runs the Federal Aviation Administration will himself pilot the grounded Boeing 737 MAX in what could be the final test before recertifying the troubled aircraft.

FAA chief Steve Dickson, a former pilot for Delta Air Lines, is licensed to fly the 737 MAX and will take control of the plane on Wednesday, Sept. 30 after he and his top deputy, Daniel Elwell, complete a training course that Boeing and regulators have proposed for all MAX pilots.

Bloomberg News Service described the flight as ‘an attempt to show an antsy public that proposed fixes will be safe,’ according to a notification sent to Congress.

The announcement of the flight comes after the FAA and the other three leading aviation regulators this week completed assessments of new pilot-training requirements for the MAX, the agency told lawmakers.

Civil aviation authorities and airline flight crews from the U.S., Canada, Brazil and the European Union met in London to review Boeing’s proposed re-training of pilots and flight crews who would be working the 737 MAX planes.

Dickson’s flight will be a huge hurdle for the aircraft. The 737 MAX has been grounded for commercial flights since March 2019 after two separate crashes killed 346 passengers and crew. From June 29-July 1 of this year, FAA test pilots and engineers flew a 737 MAX and put the plane through various scenarios to evaluate the changes Boeing made.

The flight and the completion of training reviews are strong signals that the FAA is confident in Boeing’s best-selling plane and closing in on the final approvals.