I slogged through the entire article, and found it informative (i.e. I learned a few new things). Of course the bias was a bit strong, but so was the NYT puff piece.

I am wondering what is the reach of the 737MAX? Is the same as the current 737 planes being used by UA? I know I had been scheduled on a flight (IAH-MSY) which I did not want to fly (on the 737MAX) and the extension of the grounding solved that.

I know Boeing must be near completion of whatever they needed to do to solve the problems and get the plane reinstated, but I do not want to fly on the 737MAX.

Many of my domestic flights and flights to Central America and Hawaii are on 737s. Are these the same potential routes for the 737MAX or will they also he assigned to longer flights?

Range for the MAX series is nominally 500 miles (give or take) greater than the NG series.

In many ways it is the same plane (yes, we all know why it's grounded) but more fuel efficient, so with same amount of fuel will go further. I trust JimInOhio has facts right and go with that.

Airline Went Into Records After Max Crash, Engineer Says

Ethiopian Airlines' former chief engineer says in a whistleblower complaint filed with regulators that the carrier went into the maintenance records on a Boeing 737 Max jet a day after it crashed this year, a breach he contends was part of a pattern of corruption that included fabricating documents, signing off on shoddy repairs and even beating those who got out of line.

May relate to why UAL (or any of the US carriers) didn't have any reports of the same issues ETH and LNI had, despite operating more MAX aircraft: UAL has proper maintenance control and oversight.

Only 69 of the 380 MAX's were being operated by the US carriers.

Quite disturbing report, if only half of it is true. I have no plans to fly that airline anytime soon.
Thx for sharing, mduell!

And only 4 by ETH.

Well, it was 5.

and is conveniently in the US seeking asylum :rolleyes:

If such levels of incompetence and corruption is claimed, I expect them to have more flight delays/cancellations/crashes. Plus aviation authorities in Europe and US denying them access to their skies.

That fact doesn't prove nor disprove the validity of his claims, unfortunately.
If his claims are true, fleeing the country seems a prudent course of action for him and his family, no?

CNBC reported this morning that the FAA Is now looking at the potential of having the MAX return to flying domestically (along with some other regulatory bodies) potentially in advance of the European regulators signing off. Clearly not ideal. They were mostly focused on how this may relate to trade negotiations.

Also just saw Southwest pilots are suing Boeing for lost wages due to the grounding.

Muilenburg is out as board chairman, so he can "focus" on being CEO:

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...r-role-461451/

Bring back Alan Mulally!