China Eastern Airlines grounds Boeing 737-800 aircraft fleet
The decision is in response to the crash of one of the Shanghai-based carrier’s aircraft of that type on Monday, near Wuzhou, west of Guangzhou
China Eastern Airlines has grounded its fleet of Boeing 737-800 passenger planes, after the crash of one aircraft of that type flown by the operator on Monday 21 March near Wuzhou, Guangxi.
Boeing 737-800 jets are extremely popular among Chinese carriers, with more than 1,100 in service in the country, and constituting more than a quarter of the total global fleet in operation.
China Eastern reportedly operates a fleet of over 100 of the aircraft, constituting approximately nine per cent of the national combined fleet, as well as around one sixth of the airline’s fleet of around 600 aircraft.
The grounding is likely to cause substantial flight disruption across the airline’s network of routes. As the second largest airline in China, China Eastern has its primary base of operations in Shanghai Pudong International Airport, secondary hubs at Beijing Daxing, Kuming and Xi’an.
However, in practical terms, the grounding of the aircraft may be secondary, compared to the negative effect of the crash on the Boeing 737’s reputation. As Cai von Rumohr, an analyst at the Cowen investment bank explained to BBC News: “Given Boeing’s problems with the 737 MAX, there is some chance that consumers may not want to fly on a 737 until the cause of the China Eastern crash is determined not to be a design or manufacturing issue.”
CAAC has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash
It follows the crash of China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 yesterday near Wuzhou, en route to Guangzhou. The aircraft had been carrying 132 people, including nine crew.
No survivors have been found so far during the ongoing rescue efforts, with one expert, Wang Ya’nan, Editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, telling The Beijing News that ‘the chances of anyone from the plane surviving are minuscule.’
An investigation has been launched by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to investigate the cause of the crash, which will also include support from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as well as representatives from Boeing, and engine manufacturer CFM International, which produces the CFM56 jets used on the 737-800.
In addition, CAAC has also called for a two-week ‘safety overhaul’ of the country’s civilian aviation sector, according to a report by Chinese state press agency Xinhua. The initiative would include an assessment of safety rules and regulations, as well as their implementation, across all aspects of the Chinese civil aviation industry.
Internationally, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has confirmed that it will place all Boeing 737 aircraft in its airspace under ‘enhanced surveillance’ following the crash, ‘to monitor flight procedures, air worthiness and operations’. A number of Indian carriers, including SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express, operate the aircraft type.