– As AITA says Boeing 737 may not return till August

The head of Boeing acknowledged Wednesday that the company “clearly fell short” in dealing with the accident-ridden 737 MAX and said that it had not adequately communicated with regulators.

Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg’s remarks to CBS News — his first interview since the global grounding of the plane following two crashes that claimed 346 lives — came as a top airline representative signalled that the top-selling jets could be out of service at least through mid- to late-August.

Muilenburg was pressed by CBS about failing to notify the Federal Aviation Administration for more than a year that the company had deactivated a signal designed to advise the crew of a disagreement between the plane’s “angle of attack” sensors, which measure its angle vis-a-vis on-coming air to warn of impending stalls.

The sensors provide data to the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System, a flight handling system connected to the deadly crashes of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines MAXs.

The FAA did not learn of the issue until after the Lion Air crash, more than 13 months after Boeing first unearthed the problem.

The design of the MCAS system has been criticized by aviation experts because it is tied to just one sensor at a time, making it susceptible to malfunction.

In both of the MAX crashes, the MCAS pointed the plane sharply downward based on a faulty sensor reading, hindering the pilots’ effort to control the aircraft after take-off, according to preliminary crash investigations.

Muilenburg, who has repeatedly rejected suggestions of a design flaw in the 737 MAX, acknowledged implementation shortcomings.

“The implementation of this angle of attack alert was a mistake,” he told CBS. “Our communication on that was not what it should have been.”

But Muilenburg, who also issued a sweeping apology to the families of flight victims during the interview, said he believes in the plane and would have no reservations putting his family aboard.

“We’re confident in the fundamental safety of the airplane,” he said.

Meanwhile, The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday, that Boeing Co’s 737 MAX is unlikely to return to service before August, adding that the final say on the timing rested with regulators.

It will be recalled, that the 737 MAX was grounded globally in March after a crash in Ethiopia killed all 157 people on board, the model’s second deadly crash in five months.

“We do not expect something before 10 to 12 weeks in re-entry into service,” IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac told reporters in Seoul. “But it is not our hands. That is in the hands of regulators.”

IATA plans to organize a summit with airlines, regulators and Boeing in 5 to 7 weeks to discuss what is needed for the 737 MAX to return to service, he said.

The airline industry has had a tough six months with fuel, labour and infrastructure costs increasing and trade tensions rising in addition to the 737 MAX grounding, de Juniac said.

IATA’s December forecast for $35.5 billion in industry profits in 2019 is expected to be lowered in an update at its annual meeting in Seoul on June 2.

At an IATA meeting for 737 MAX operators in Montreal last week, airline members said they wanted regulators to cooperate closely on the decision for the plane’s re-entry to service, de Juniac said.

“We hope that they will align their timeframe,” he said of regulators.

Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg on Wednesday reiterated the plane maker was focused on safely returning the MAX aircraft to service.

Speaking at a Bernstein conference in New York, Muilenburg said the company continues to expect to ramp up its long-term production rate to 57 a month after cutting monthly output to 42 planes in response to the groundings.

“We’re making clear and steady progress, and that includes the work that we’re doing on the airplane update, the software update, working through the certification process with the FAA,” he said.

Sources have told Reuters that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects to approve the jet’s return to service as soon as late June.

U.S. operators United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and American Airlines have removed the planes from their flight schedules until early to mid-August.