Time To Rebuild
The Boeing 737 Max has been recertified to fly again. Now, the company can start the slow and years-long process of rebuilding credibility with airlines and their customers. The deaths of 346 people on two planes due to a faulty sensor and software was a profound blow. The system of checks and rechecks failed both at Boeing and the FAA. The two organizations were pilloried and business-as-usual underwent scathing review. Neither will live down the failure but they can be rehabilitated with rigorous and strict certification that is unbending and uncompromising. Boeing was rushing the airliner to market to compete with Airbus. Under pressure, its engineers cut corners, most likely without realizing it. The company can never do that again and expect to survive. There is no acceptable margin of risk. The Max needs to fly millions of miles without incident until pilots and passengers have implicit trust in them. Boeing has learned from this mistake, but it dare not make it again.
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