The EU's aviation regulator is reportedly still concerned about Boeing's 737 MAX

Boeing.
(Image credit: David Ryder/Getty Images)

Boeing's 737 remains grounded, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency isn't sure that should change anytime soon, The Wall Street Journal reports.

EU regulators reportedly disagree with Boeing and the Federal Aviation Agency about whether changes to the plane's new software have made the model adequately safe after two crashes within the last year in Indonesia and Ethiopia that led to 346 deaths. EASA reportedly hasn't reached a final verdict, and could still wind up supporting Boeing's changes in tandem with the FAA, which along with Boeing is still testing the results of a new flight-control system before attempting to get the 737 MAX back in the sky.

But the Journal reports that the European regulator looks like likely to diverge from its U.S. counterpart unless the two sides can reach a compromise in the next few weeks. Boeing, for its part, is reportedly frustrated that EASA hasn't specified why exactly it's still not necessarily ready to sign off the changes.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Regardless, sources briefed on the details told the Journal, that the regulator's objections could set an industry-wide precedent for foreign authorities to second-guess safety decisions made by the FAA. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.