DAYS after BA Comair
took delivery of the
first of eight brand new
B737 MAX8s, the company
decided to ground the aircraft
following speculation that the
aircraft type may be faulty in
the wake of the fatal crash
of Ethiopian Airlines flight
ET302 on Sunday March 9.
Comair has ordered eight
B737 MAX8 aircraft in
what amounts to roughly a
US$900,8m deal (R12,9bn)
as part of a fleet renewal
strategy. It is expecting
delivery of the second
aircraft later this month
with the last scheduled for
delivery in 2022.
The B737 MAX8 is the
same aircraft type that was
operated by Lion Air and
crashed in Indonesia in
October 2018. The aircraft
type was introduced in
2017.
Kirby Gordon, head of
sales and distribution of
FlySafair, told TNW the
cost of grounding a brandnew, top-dollar aircraft was
multi-fold and potentially
devastating for any airline.
“The cost of a new B737
MAX8 amounts to roughly
US$112,6 million (R1,6bn).
With the grounding, an
airline is losing out on
substantial daily interest
that it could have earned
had the funds instead been
invested in the bank. It is
also possible that airlines
are paying finance or lease
costs on top of the purchase
price of the aircraft, which
must be taken into account.
Furthermore, the airline is
foregoing all revenue that
it would usually be earning
while the aircraft is on the
ground. This means that the
airline may need to reduce
its schedule or lease an
additional aircraft to fill the
gap – the airline would then
be paying for not one but
two aircraft,” said Kirby.
Following the ET crash
the China CAA ordered all
Chinese airlines to ground
their B737 MAX jets. It
said that, given that two
accidents both involved
newly delivered B737 MAX8s
and happened during the
take-off phase, there was
reason to believe there was
some degree of similarity.
While it is still too early
to confirm the exact cause
of why ET302 went down,
several governments and
civil aviation authorities have
issued instructions to stop
B737 MAX8 commercial
passenger flights over
their airspace. An eversnowballing number of
governments, civil aviation
authorities and airlines
are grounding the aircraft
and prohibiting commercial
passenger flights at the time
of going to press. These
include UK, the EU and
Australia. Comair announced
on March 11 that it had
decided to voluntarily
remove the brand-new
B737 MAX8 from its flight
schedule, despite neither
the regulatory authorities nor
the manufacturer requiring it
to do so.
“The safety and confidence
of our customers and crew
are always our priority,” said
Wrenelle Stander, executive
director of Comair’s airline
division.
While Comair did extensive
preparatory work prior to
the introduction of the first
B737 MAX8 into its fleet,
and remained confident
of the inherent safety of
the aircraft, it had decided
temporarily not to schedule
the aircraft while it consulted
with other operators, Boeing
and technical experts, said
the airline.
According to Comair, the
B737 MAX8 has operated
in excess of a quarter of a
million flights to date, with
370 aircraft in operation
globally across 47 airlines.
Comair would be the first
airline in sub-Saharan Africa
to operate the aircraft.
Prior to the crash, Comair
said the aircraft was
purchased as it offered 14%
better fuel-efficiency, lower
emissions and 600 nautical
miles longer range. It was
introduced to help the airline
service its growing African
market.
Kabelo Ledwaba,
communications manager
of the SA CAA commended
Comair’s decision to
temporarily remove the
aircraft from its schedule,
saying: “This type of decision
puts the concerns, interests
and safety of passengers
and crew first.”
