The South African-based airline Comair said this afternoon it is grounding the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft it operates from flying after the Ethiopian Airlines crash yesterday (Sunday) which crashed minutes after taking off killing 157 on board.
Comair has one 737 Max 8 in its fleet but a further seven on oder. It is a British Airways franchisee and an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliane.
The Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also said today that 737 Max 8s operated by Indonesian airlines would be grounded while additional inspections were carried out.
Two Indonesian carriers operate Max 8s. Lion Air has 10 in its fleet and one in its fleet of the variant crashed in October killing 189 on board while Garuda Indonesia operates one. Both carriers have more on order.
Ethiopian Airlines this morning also grounded all four it operates after the tragic crash yesterday morning from Addis Ababa. It has a further 25 on order.
China’s aviation regular – the Civil Aviation Administration of China – has also ordered domestic airlines using the aircraft to stop flying the 737 Max 8. Cayman Airlines has also suspended operations of the two it operates.
There are approximately 350 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in operation globally, being flown by 54 operators. A full of operators can be found here – while Boeing has booked more than 5,100 orders for 737 MAX-family aircraft and the first MAX 8 entered service in May 2017.
The biggest operators of the Boeing 737 Max 8 are:
Southwest Airlines 34
American Airlines 24
Air Canada 24
Norwegian 18
TUI Aviation 15
WestJet 13
Flydubai 11
Lion Air 10
SilkAir six
Icelandair three
Fiji Airways two
