According to a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), they gave the clearance to start test flights of its critical 737 Max jet. The test flights of the 737 Max may begin as early as Monday. The recent move marks as a significant step in the process to re-certify the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The authorities grounded it since March 2019 for passenger flights after Boeing 737 MAX 8 of Ethiopian Airlines crashed to took lives of all carrying 157 passengers. Boeing fired its CEO Dennis Muilenburg in December after the crisis.

Boeing has received clearance to begin test flights of its troubled 737 Max jet, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said today. https://t.co/dl1WnL9vMy

— KTVZ NewsChannel 21 (@KTVZ) June 29, 2020

Boeing announced that it expects to receive complete approval for the jet to fly carrying passengers by the middle of 2020. The letter of FAA to Congress says that it still has no date for when to lift the ground. The administration wrote in the letter to representatives that flights with FAA test pilots might start as soon as tomorrow, evaluating future changes of Boeing to the automated flight control system on jet 737 MAX.

Flights with FAA test pilots could begin as early as tomorrow, evaluating Boeing’s proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the 737 MAX.”

— Deborah Lincoln (@DeborahLincoln) June 29, 2020

Testing Phase of Boeing 737 MAX may take several days

Testing may take some days and may include an extensive array of flight exercises and emergency procedures to enable the company to assess whether the changes meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s certification standards. Furthermore, Boeing has been working with the federal agency to get the 737 MAX back in the operations after two fatal crashes that killed 346 people.

Initially, the aerospace company hoped to fly the plane again before the end of the previous year, but several blockades hit the effort, such as the software issue pointed out in February. On Sunday, Boeing stated that it continues to work conscientiously to support the safe return of the 737 MAX to commercial operations. The company defers to worldwide regulators and the FAA on the process.

So far, back to back problems cost Boeing around $18.7 billion, and the figure is likely to increase. The firm provisionally stopped producing 737 MAX in January, before the coronavirus pandemic hit many global airlines. It could not afford to keep developing the MAX without able to deliver the aircraft and complete the jet sales.

Boeing resumes 737 MAX production without fly approval

Boeing restarted building jet in May without fly approval, but airlines moved to delay or cancel delivery of new planes in the face of coronavirus pandemic, forcing the aerospace firm to significantly reduce its production plans for at least the next some years. The aircraft can’t return to commercial operations until it receives final approval from the FAA.

The letter of FAA to Congress said that the beginning of test flights didn’t suggest that the agency completed its compliance assessment or other related work with its official return to service. The federal agency highlighted some steps in the letter to follow in order to complete the clearance process with the test flights. These steps include assessing minimum pilot training requirements among some other procedures.

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