Canada’s WestJet returned the Boeing 737 Max to revenue service on 21 January with a flight from Calgary to Vancouver, becoming Canada’s first airline to fly the aircraft commercially following an almost two-year pause. The Calgary-headquartered carrier says flight WS115 carried 71 passengers and arrived in Vancouver ahead of schedule due to a strong tailwind. The aircraft will return to Calgary later the same day. “The return of WestJet’s Max aircraft marks an operational milestone after 22 months of intense review and considerable learning,” says airline chief executive Ed Sims. “WestJet’s preparation, our processes, due diligence and philosophy of safety above all other considerations have brought us to this point today where we can welcome guests aboard Max aircraft with 100% confidence in their safety.” The flight comes just days after the Canadian regulator, Transport Canada, approved changes to Boeing’s design and software, allowing the Max to return to airlines’ active fleets. That follows an almost-two-year global grounding following two fatal accidents which killed 346 people. According to Cirium fleets data, the airframe, with the tail number C-FHCM, went into service on 27 February 2019, about two weeks before the type was grounded. It is the youngest of the airline’s 13 Max jets acquired prior to re-certification. The airline had been operating the type in its fleet since September 2017. WestJet plans to initially use the 737 Max on flights between Calgary and Vancouver, and on the popular Calgary-to-Toronto route. Prior to the grounding, it was also flying the aircraft to Hawaii and Halifax, in eastern Canada, airline officials say. Scott Wilson, the carrier’s vice-president of operations and a Max pilot himself, was part of the crew that flew the aircraft from Calgary to Vancouver on 21 January. He says the trip was “smooth, on-time and unremarkable”. Wilson says changes made to the type’s software and design give pilots “absolute control of the aircraft at all times”. Also, redundancy and additional pilot training, in full-motion simulators, make the Max “the safest aircraft in the skies today”.
“Knowing and having been involved with the regulator, flight crew approaching this aircraft have no concerns with the flight control system,” he adds. That said, WestJet, like other airlines operating the aircraft, will let potential passengers rebook flights if they are uncomfortable travelling on the type. WestJet’s Montreal-based competitor Air Canada has said it plans to return the beleaguered aircraft to revenue service on 1 February. Canadian vacation specialist Sunwing Airlines also operates the 737 Max but it is unclear when it will bring the type back into its schedule. On 18 November, the Federal Aviation Administration re-certificated the type, paving the way for it to return to service in the USA. Several other regulators quickly followed, and the first flight after the global grounding was conducted by Brazil’s Gol on 9 December. In the USA, American Airlines first flew the type on 29 December. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is expected to issue an airworthiness directive allowing the type to resume service in that jurisdiction next week.

Indonesian officials have officially halted search and rescue efforts to locate more victims of the Sriwijaya Air crash, but are continuing their hunt for the Boeing 737-500’s cockpit-voice recorder. The latest update — issued by Indonesian transport minister Budi Karya Sumadi — comes nearly two weeks since the Sriwijaya jet (registered PK-CLC) crashed into the Java Sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta. The aircraft, operating flight SJ182, was carrying 62 passengers and crew members when it plunged into the sea on 9 January. The 737’s flight-data recorder was retrieved on 12 January. Three days later, officials found the casing of the cockpit-voice recorder. To date, more than 325 body parts of victims, along with 55 large fuselage pieces and 68 bags of smaller debris, have been recovered from the crash site. Indonesia’s National Transport Safety Committee (NTSC), which is leading investigations into the crash, says it will continue in its efforts to locate the stricken aircraft’s CVR, which will be crucial in piecing together what led to the crash. The NTSC has successfully downloaded data from the aircraft’s flight-data recorder, which was recovered last week, and is expected to release a preliminary investigation report into the incident by early February. Investigators have disclosed that the aircraft, a former Continental Airlines jet, had been heading in an unexpected direction following take-off from Jakarta to Pontianak, and that it had been intact before crashing into the sea.

Dutch carrier KLM will reportedly suspend 270 flights to the Netherlands after the country’s government imposed new requirements to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Various media reports on 20 January that the Amsterdam-based airline will stop operating all of its intercontinental flights as well as some connections between the Dutch capital and other European destinations starting on 22 January. European flights cancelled include those connections where the carrier’s crew must spend a night. “We cannot run the risk of our staff being stranded somewhere. This is why we are stopping all intercontinental flights from Friday & all flights to European destinations where crew members have to spend the night”, KLM reportedly tells Dutch media. Attempts to reach the airline independently were not immediately successful and the airline had not posted an update on its website. On social media, numerous customer questions to the airline about this decision went unanswered. The airline’s official Twitter account responded that the carrier is “awaiting further information”. KLM does not operate domestic services due to the small geographic size of its home country. The Netherlands have been in a lockdown since mid-December, with schools, the hospitality industry and retail stores selling non-essential items closed. On 20 January the government recommended stricter measures to mitigate continued spread of the coronavirus, including a curfew and a temporary ban on flights to South Africa, South American countries and the United Kingdom. It also requires passengers bound for the Netherlands from abroad take a rapid test prior to departure as well as a standard PCR test upon arrival.