The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines has called on regulators to work collaboratively to ensure a unified approach to recertifying the Boeing 737 Max plane
Failure to do so will risk delays of weeks, or even months with some countries forging ahead while others waiting and hoping no further accidents occur.
Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines says it will be difficult for regulators in all jurisdictions to be all completely in agreement regarding safety assessments of the aircraft.
"The challenge is just as we saw a cascade of shutdowns, it might be more drawn out in terms of the ungroundings," said Herdman during an airline leaders meeting in Seoul.
He is not at all optimistic regulators can completely agree on common safety standards and a coordinated timeline to end the groundings.
"Desirable? Yes. Achievable? No."
Europe, China and elsewhere will undertake their own assessments independent of a US FAA audit, likely leading to a haphazard recertification process that could linger for several months.
One of the biggest obstacles to a truly global coordinated approach is the differences expressed in the need for further pilot training, especially on expensive and time consuming simulator training.
Ed Bastian, chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines Inc, which doesn’t even fly Max planes, weighed in on the issue.
"It’s very important that the regulators around the world unite and make a unified determination regarding the safety of the Max. Keeping politics out of safety matters is important," Bastion said a a media briefing.
