Cayman Airways announced it would restart Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operations by mid-February 2021.
The Boeing 737 MAX ungrounding news came after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI) rescinded its airspace restrictions for the aircraft on February 2, 2021.
“Cayman Airways plans to return the aircraft model to service in the second half of February 2021, after we complete the final series of actions necessary to reintroduce the aircraft to service,” Cayman Airways statement reads.
The CAACI followed the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transport Canada (TC), Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft ungrounding.
“There also exists a solid assurance that the aircraft is ready to safely return to the skies from the fact that all of the world’s major aviation regulators and certifying authorities have given the aircraft a level of scrutiny that is unprecedented in aviation history,” the Cayman Airways CEO Fabian Whorms assured.
Cayman Airways has two Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in its fleet, which have been parked since the aircraft’s worldwide grounding in March 2019. Both aircraft are already modified and improved to assure safety of operations. However, the carrier has a series of final measures to implement, before the jet sets to the skies.
On March 10, 2019, Cayman Airways voluntarily grounded its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet, after the aircraft crashed in Ethiopia and Indonesia, claiming 346 lives.
After 20 months of grounding, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States was the first to recertify the Boeing 737 MAX, allowing it to enter commercial service in the country again on November 18, 2020.