Having been the first countries to have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 fleet in its airlines after the Ethiopian airlines plane crash earlier this month, China has remained adamant in its stand even after Boeing Company has introduced a software fix to its 737 model.
China’s civil aviation regulator has stopped taking applications for Boeing’s 737 Max 8 airworthiness certification since March 21, an official at the regulator’s news department said on Tuesday.
“Given the aircraft faces uncertainties in its airworthiness, after studying, it is decided that (the regulator) will stop issuing Boeing 737 Max 8 airworthiness certification immediately,” the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) was quoted as saying, adding that the ongoing investigation had not ruled out the possibility of an aircraft design issue.
The regulator also said it will only resume reviewing applications when it is determined that the aircraft is airworthy and it has sent staff to take part in the investigation and to review design changes.
This is despite CAAC having taken 15 months to initially certify Boeing.
In the wake of the US-China trade war, could this be the one sign China was waiting for to pull out of ties with the U.S plane maker?
They have ruled out Google, Facebook among other huge U.S based multinational firms after all.