Boeing delivered a Boeing 737 MAX to United Airlines, the first aircraft of the type delivered after the groundings in March 2019.
The aircraft, registered as N27519, first flew on June 1, 2019. At the time, Boeing was still producing the 737 MAX, despite the grounding following the second fatal crash in Ethiopia in March 2019.
After the United Airlines aircraft was completed, it was stored at King County International Airport-Boeing Field (BFI), in Seattle, United States. On December 8, 2020, it was ferried to the nearby Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) upon delivery. It is expected that the aircraft will fly to United’s Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) hub this week, reported the Seattle Times.
The airline expects to operate the first flights with the aircraft in Q1 2021, a bit later than American Airlines (A1G) (AAL), which scheduled the first flights with the 737 MAX on December 29, 2020.
Following the ungrounding order, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued on November 18, 2020, Boeing and airlines have been preparing to return the aircraft to service. In order for the 737 MAX to be able to fly once again, operators have to install the revised software, separate the wiring that goes from the cockpit to the horizontal stabilizer, and complete other tasks to prepare the aircraft for operation, in addition to pilots completing Full Flight Simulator (FFS) based training.
Boeing produced about 400 737 MAX aircraft during the groundings, according to planespotters.net data.