Last week, Boeing officials and China's aviation regulator, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), had a meeting to discuss the fate of MAX aircraft's return to China and to analyse the training plans for the MAX fleet, CAAC said. The meeting took place a day before Boeing management announced that they were looking out for prospective buyers for the MAX aircraft manufactured for Chinese airlines.
The MAX fleet has not flown in China since 2019 after two fatal crashes grounded the aircraft worldwide. According to Boeing's Chief Executive Dave Calhoun, resuming deliveries in China is critical, but there is no expectation to deliver aircraft in China soon. A Boeing spokesperson declined to comment about the meeting with CAAC.
CAAC said it would release a revised report when the questions raised at the meeting were resolved. However, they have not provided any timeline to return the MAX aircraft to regular service
Currently, over 140 MAX aircraft worth $5bn are in storage in the Boeing facility waiting for a green signal from CAAC. The aircraft have been in storage for too long and will lead to further losses to Boeing if they continue to remain in storage. To avoid further loss, Boeing has undertaken re-painting work on some fleets. Some planes are painted in neutral white while some are painted in other liveries as they are being reassigned. Boeing has decided to absorb this cost as receiving capital for the ready aircraft is more important.
The meeting between Boeing officials and CAAC took place at Zhoushan and included a visit to the Boeing completion center. The plant, a joint venture of Boeing and COMAC, has been inactive since 2019. The plant was built in 2017 and Boeing delivered its first 737MAX to Air China in 2018. The plant was supposed to roll out 100 aircraft annually but has been non-functional since the fatal 737MAX crashes.