The 737 Max and A320neo are direct competitors. The A320neo was announced 6 months before the 737 Max in 2011, and both were certified for flight in March 2017. (Give or take - the A320neo has a few variants.)
Back when the 737 was first grounded, initial investigation found that Boeing and the FAA cooperated to rush the 737 into service to beat the A320neo [1,2].
The FAA has every incentive to make sure that American companies, especially large ones like Boeing, are treated favorably. Even outside of donations or smells of corruption, Boeing is a major employer and S&P500 member. If Boeing does well, our economic metrics (employment/stocks) do well, and the lawmakers who regulate the FAA are happy.
Those same incentives appeared in the FAA's refusal to ground the Max for days after the second crash. (First crash was 8/29/18; second was 3/10/19; grounded 3/13/19)[3]
I suspect we're seeing a replay of the original certification. As soon as the 737 Max is recertified, all those grounded planes can get back to making a profit, and Boeing can go back to making them.
Not how it should work, but the recertification effort seems consistent with how Boeing and the FAA acted in the initial certification. It's not right, but the same incentives still exist.
The 737 Max and A320neo are direct competitors. The A320neo was announced 6 months before the 737 Max in 2011, and both were certified for flight in March 2017. (Give or take - the A320neo has a few variants.)
Back when the 737 was first grounded, initial investigation found that Boeing and the FAA cooperated to rush the 737 into service to beat the A320neo [1,2].
The FAA has every incentive to make sure that American companies, especially large ones like Boeing, are treated favorably. Even outside of donations or smells of corruption, Boeing is a major employer and S&P500 member. If Boeing does well, our economic metrics (employment/stocks) do well, and the lawmakers who regulate the FAA are happy.
Those same incentives appeared in the FAA's refusal to ground the Max for days after the second crash. (First crash was 8/29/18; second was 3/10/19; grounded 3/13/19)[3]
I suspect we're seeing a replay of the original certification. As soon as the 737 Max is recertified, all those grounded planes can get back to making a profit, and Boeing can go back to making them.
Not how it should work, but the recertification effort seems consistent with how Boeing and the FAA acted in the initial certification. It's not right, but the same incentives still exist.
Just my $0.02.
[1] https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/faile...
[2] https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/21/congress-faa-boein...
[3] https://www.npr.org/2019/03/13/702936894/ethiopian-pilot-had...