The head of Ethiopian Airlines Group said the carrier is on decent terms with Boeing Co., yet remains cautious about flying the 737 Max almost one year after the fatal crash that led to the jet's global grounding.
“We both discussed and agreed that the relationship should continue and we have a good relationship,” Chief Executive Officer Tewolde GebreMariam said at an aviation conference in Addis Ababa. “But at the same time, the Max has a problem. We have to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that this airplane is good to fly.”
The crash on March 10 last year killed 157 people less than five months after a similarly deadly incident involving the same model in Indonesia. The Max was grounded by regulators around the world days after the Ethiopia accident.
“It has taken a very long toll on the airline, on all of us,” Tewolde said. “It has consumed a lot of emotions and energy. It was very shocking but we were very strong.”
Ethiopian has seen a 20% decline in passenger traffic due to fears surrounding the spread of the coronavirus, the CEO said. Some carriers globally are cutting flights and the International Air Transport Association has said January growth was the slowest in about a decade.
To contact the reporter on this story: Samuel Gebre in Addis Ababa at sgebre@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, Anthony Palazzo
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