After being grounded for nearly two years, the Boeing 737 Max is once again flying commercial passengers in the US. An American Airlines flight took off from Miami International Airport shortly after 10:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, headed for LaGuardia Airport in New York.
The Federal Aviation Administration in November cleared the Boeing 737 Max to resume commercial flights in the US following a nearly two-year review. The 737 Max had been grounded worldwide since 2019, after two fatal crashes, the first in Indonesia in October 2018 and the second in Ethiopia the following March, killed a total of 346 people. Boeing says it has since fixed the MCAS flight control system that was blamed for both accidents and has taken steps to improve its focus on safety and quality.
American Airlines President Robert Isom was reportedly on Tuesday's flight in addition to about 100 passengers. The airline plans to use the 737 Max for daily flights between Miami and New York, according to The New York Times, with as many as 36 flights leaving Miami each day. American will reportedly let passengers concerned about flying on a 737 Max rebook their flight to avoid the plane.
The 737 Max has been back in service in Brazil since earlier this month. Aviation safety agencies in Canada and the European Union are conducting their own reviews of the plane before flights resume in those regions.