Yahoo Finance Canada has no plans to ground Boeing jet, says Transport Minister
As the list of countries and airlines grounding the Boeing aircraft involved in the Ethiopian Airline crash continues to grow, Canada’s Transport Minister said the government has no plans to ban the plane from its airspace.
According to the Canadian Press, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Tuesday that Canada has no plans to ban the country’s fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, despite several European countries doing so.
I've canceled all my meetings and public events today in order to meet with my Civil Aviation Expert Panel. All evidence is being evaluated in real time and we're considering all potential actions.
— Marc Garneau (@MarcGarneau) March 12, 2019
On Tuesday, the U.K., Germany, France, and Ireland joined the list of nations banning the plane from their respective airspaces, intensifying pressure for other countries to ground the aircraft.
Garneau had previously said in a press conference on Monday that it would be “a bit premature” to ground the jets before the cause of the crash is determined. Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. are still flying the aircraft.
The U.K. was the first European nation to ban the plane on Tuesday, releasing a statement saying it would be banning the aircraft as a precautionary measure.
“The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority has been closely monitoring the situation, however, as we do not currently have sufficient information from the flight data recorder we have, as a precautionary measure, issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying UK airspace,” the statement said.
“The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority’s safety directive will be in place until further notice.”
Speaking to reporters in Montreal on Monday, Garneau sought to provide assurances to Canadians concerned about the safety of the aircraft.
“First of all, we have to determine the cause of the accident before we take further steps,” Garneau said through a translation.
“But I want to reassure Canadians that I won’t hesitate to take the necessary steps as soon as we get information which will guide us in our decision.”
Garneau said his office has been in contact with the United States authorities on Monday, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which are investigating the crash as the MAX 8 is a U.S.-certified jet.
Eighteen Canadians were among the 157 passengers and crew who died when an Ethiopian Airlines plane went down shortly after departing from Bole Airport in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi, Kenya. Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the deadly crash.
“It was a sunny day, (with) an experienced pilot, the plane was brand new, but we know very little else about the actual cause of it,” Garneau said of the crash.
“It is important to let the professionals, in this case the FAA and NTSB … to determine the cause and then, if necessary, take any remedial action.”
Both Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. count the Boeing 737 MAX 8 among its fleet. Air Canada currently flies 24 MAX 8s while WestJet flies 13. Neither airline said whether they are considering suspending use of the aircraft. Sunwing also has four MAX 8s in its fleet.
Air Canada and WestJet both offered statements of condolences to the victims of the crash, while at the same time stressing the safety and reliability of the aircraft.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew of Ethiopian Airline Flight 302, which was lost while en route to Nairobi this morning,” Air Canada spokesperson Isabelle Arthur said in a statement.
“These aircraft have performed excellently from a safety, reliability and customer satisfaction perspective.”
WestJet said it is monitoring the situation surrounding the investigation of the Ethiopian Airlines crash and that it “will not speculate on the cause of the incident.”
“WestJet sends its heartfelt condolences to those friends and family whose loved ones were on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302,” WestJet spokesperson Morgan Bell said in a statement.
“WestJet remains confident in the safety of our Boeing 737 fleet, including our 13 MAX-8 aircraft first introduced in 2017.”
The Calgary-based airline currently has 13 MAX-8s in the fleet of 121 Boeing 737s. It has flown five different versions of the 737 aircraft since 1996, and currently operates about 450 daily departures using 737s.
Ethiopian Airlines has since decided to ground its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 until further notice.
“Although we don’t yet know the cause of the accident, we had to decide to ground the particular fleet as extra safety precaution,” the airline said in a statement.
China’s aviation regulator also grounded nearly 100 MAX 8 aircraft on Monday, representing more than a quarter of the world’s fleet of the jet. Indonesia also said it would temporarily ground the model for safety inspection. The same model, flown by Lion Air, crashed off the coast of Indonesia in October, killing all 189 on board.
Still, Garneau told reporters Monday that he would board a MAX 8 “without any hesitation.”
The FAA released a statement Monday saying it was on site with the NTSB investigating the crash.
“We are collecting data and keeping in contact with international civil aviation authorities as information becomes available,” the FAA statement said, adding that it will issue a “Continued Airworthiness Notification to the International Community later today.
“The FAA continuously assesses and oversees the safety performance of U.S. commercial aircraft. If we identify an issue that affects safety, the FAA will take immediate and appropriate action.”
A U.S. official told Reuters there were no plans to follow suit, as the jet had a stellar safety record in the United States and there was a lack of information on what caused the Ethiopian crash.
With files from the Canadian Press and Reuters.
