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Lion Air 'communicating with Boeing' on MAX 8 software upgrade
The low-cost carrier did not provide any additional details.
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A 737 MAX 8 is pictured recently outside the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, the United States. (AFP/Getty Images/Stephen Brashear )
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ion Air has said on Monday that it is in communication with Boeing about the upgraded software for the 737 MAX 8 aircraft, following the aircraft's grounding by airlines and aviation authorities around the world in response to the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crash on March 10.
Lion Air spokesman Danang Mandala Prihantoro declined to comment on calls to seek compensation from the US aircraft manufacturer or to recall the Boeing aircraft.
“Regarding the aircraft, it is better if you seek confirmation from the [Boeing] factory,” Danang said on Monday as quoted by tempo.co.
He also declined to comment on the fate of its fleet of 10 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Many countries around the world have grounded the MAX 8, including Indonesia and the United States.
Danang said the airline was referring to prevailing procedures and regulations with regard to the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. “We are carrying out checking, inspection [procedures] to assure the safety of the flights,” he added.
Lion Air had ordered 222 aircraft of the Boeing 737 MAX series for a total of US$20 billion. Four more MAX aircraft were scheduled for delivery this year, but the airline decided to postpone the delivery, pending ongoing air accident investigations.
The Ethiopian Airlines crash was the second accident in five months that involved the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, following the Lion Air flight JT610 that crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29, 2018. Recent reports have pointed to "similarities" between the two accidents. (bbn)
