Cayman Airways announced that the first commercial flight for its 737 MAX8 planes since the aircraft was reinstated following a lengthy grounding will be to Miami, Florida, on Friday, 19 Feb.
CAL president and CEO Fabian Whorms said people can rest assured the planes are safer than ever.
“The changes that have been implemented means it is impossible for a crash like the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines to occur again,” said Whorms at a press conference on 10 Feb.
The 737-8 aircraft were given the all-clear to return to service on 27 Jan. by the Cayman Islands Civil Aviation Authority after having been grounded for 23 months.
During the press conference, several CAL officials confirmed the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which was discovered to have caused the deadly crashes, was fixed.
“In October, when the planes were flown for maintenance work, the MCAS systems were fixed,” said Capt. Dave Scott, vice president of flight operations.
In anticipation to the aircraft’s return to service, Whorms said CAL’s pilots will undergo several hours of flight training.
“We call it touch and go flights,” said Whorms. “Most airlines will give their pilots a few hours on a simulation training and then send them off to fly the planes, but we will be giving our pilots three days-worth of actual flight training.
“They will be given the chance to fly the 737-8 planes.”
In addition to the training, Whorms said his pilots would be pushing the planes to their limits during two days of ‘Operational Readiness Flights’.
“The special flights are part of the airline’s ongoing return to service plans for the 737-8 fleet, which will see two flights to Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica,” said Whorms. “We will be testing the aircraft’s advanced instrument landing capabilities, which will see us flying by the runway.
“Our pilots will pretty much be putting the planes through its paces.”
In order to help win over public confidence, CAL said it is holding an open house day at their hanger on Saturday, 13 Feb.
“We are inviting members of the public to come and see the plane and tour the plane and speak with our pilots who will be available to answers their questions,” said Whorms.
Once the 737-8 planes have resumed service, Whorms said the current 737-300 planes will be taken out of service and all future flights would be made aboard the 737-8 planes. However, Whorms said people who are still hesitant to travel on a 737-8 “refunds will be offered.”
“If we are the only airline traveling to a particular destination, and a person does not wish to travel on a 737-8 aircraft, we have systems in place for that, by way of refunds,” said Whorms.
In 2015, CAL announced its intentions to modernize its aging fleet of 737-300 aircraft by leasing four new 737 Max-8 planes. CAL currently has two of the four new planes in Grand Cayman. A third plane is being kept in storage. It was originally supposed to have been delivered to CAL back in 2019, however the global grounding of the aircraft followed by the crippling effects of COVID-19 on the airline industry, means the delivery was pushed back.
“We have gone from 20 flights per day to 20 flights per month,” said Whorms. “So, we are not in the same place as we were for demands on flight pre-COVID.”
The decreased flight activity means CAL can continue to service its current routes on the two 737-8 planes. A renegotiation is underway between CAL and the leasing company, which will see the arrival of the remaining planes delayed.
Related Videos
Folks, have no fear, I ALRADY have had now 2 flights on the B737 MAX aircraft since being returned to flight status , although it was not on SIR TURTLE flights !