SpiceJet, India’s one of the major airlines, have resumed its operations using Boeing 737 Max, which was grounded for the past 30 months. The passenger service on the carrier began on Saturday prior to which the airplane VT-MXH and Max 8 were taken on a test flight to check functionality. The test flight was one hour long between the cities of Delhi and Jaipur. The carriers flew over the city before landing back on the ground. The flights have been resumed three months after getting approval from DGCA.
The Return of the Boeing MAX 737
The Saturday morning marked the first commercial flight deployed using the carrier’s first Max 8. The flight departed from the national capital of India at 13:59 local time and was delayed by approximately 90 minutes. The carrier took a short flight to the city of Varanasi and landed at 15:00 local time safe and secured. The return of the flight was scheduled at 18:00 IST from Varanasi.
However, it is to be noted that SpiceJet had made no prior announcement regarding the return of MAX on its social media or any press releases. This would mean that passengers traveling on the flight must have no idea which carrier they were traveling in. Other carriers around the globe on the other hand have been informing the customers regarding the use of MAX carriers and have even provided them with the option to switch flights.
SpiceJet and Boeing have been going through a period of disagreement for a while now and the initiation of the Max by SpiceJet comes under 72 hours after both the companies reached an agreement. The resumed Boeing flights for SpiceJet would mean a much better improvement in the capacity. SpiceJet has struggled since last year as they lost the aircraft and had to deal with the devastating impacts of Covid-19 and now needs ways to improve their capacity in an efficient way.
For Boeing as well this comes as great news. The revival of MAX aircraft has been a long and strenuous process and finally, the MAX aircrafts are operating in all major global markets except for China. Moreover, Akasa, the upcoming Indian airline has also placed an order for 72 aircraft from Boeing which makes it a more exciting time for the aircraft manufacturer.
