Marc Garneau Orders Grounding Of All Boeing 737 Max 8s Over Safety Concerns

OTTAWA — Transport Minister Marc Garneau is closing Canadian skies to the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, effectively grounding the planes over safety concerns arising from the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight that killed everyone on board, including 18 Canadians.

The decision to ground the planes is a precautionary move that was made after a review of all the available evidence, Garneau told a news conference Wednesday in Ottawa that was twice delayed by what he called new incoming information.

"There are — and I hasten to say not conclusive — but there are similarities" between the Ethiopian Airlines flight profile and that of a Lion Air flight involving the same aircraft that crashed off the Indonesian coast in October, the minister said.

Those similarities, he said, "exceed a certain threshold in our minds with respect to the possible cause of what happened in Ethiopia. This is not conclusive, but it is something that points possibly in that direction, and at this point we feel that threshold has been crossed."

The "safety notice" means none of the aircraft — or a new version, the Max 9, which isn't as widely used — can fly into, out of, or over Canada, he added: "I will not hesitate to take swift action should we discover any additional safety issues."

Garneau tipped off his American counterparts just before the announcement about the Canadians' change of heart on the aircraft. Hours later, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would follow suit.

Trump said he had told American airlines about the decision as well as Boeing and all agreed with his administration's decision. Any planes in the air will be grounded upon landing, and remain on the ground until further notice, Trump said, while Boeing works on a fix to the aircraft's software.

"The safety of the American people and all people is our paramount concern," Trump said in announcing his decision.

While aviation experts warn against drawing conclusions until more information emerges from the crash investigation, numerous jurisdictions, including China, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union, had grounded the Max 8 or banned it from their airspace before Canada and the U.S. did.

Garneau said evidence about multiple Boeing 737 Max 8 flights suggests a worrying correlation between the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the tragedy in Indonesia less than five months ago. In certain circumstances, the planes' systems try to tilt their noses down, contrary to the efforts of pilots — a pattern that was seen in both flights before they crashed, he said.

"I would repeat once again that this is not the proof that this is the same root problem," he emphasized. "It could be something else."

Passenger-rights advocate Gabor Lukacs said Wednesday that it would be prudent for Garneau to suspend use of the aircraft until questions are answered about what caused the Ethiopian crash.

"Generally, one should always be erring on the side of caution when it comes to safety questions," he said from Halifax. "If there is enough evidence of a potential harm, and in this case I think there is evidence of potential harm, then the prudent thing is to ground those aircraft."

He said airlines should allow passengers to rebook on other planes or cancel their tickets without penalty if they have apprehensions about flying on a Max 8.

Garneau said affected travellers should contact their airlines to find out what to do, he added.

"There will be some disruption, there's no question about that," he said, but safety is more important. He said he hopes the planes will be flying safely within weeks.

In a statement Wednesday, before the order from Transport Canada, Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur said the airline has a "flexible rebooking policy" that includes options to change flights to another aircraft if space permits, but wouldn't indicate if that comes with a fee.

"Based on real information and data, and ongoing consultations with government safety regulators including Transport Canada and the FAA, we have full confidence in the safety of our fleet and operations and we continue to operate the 737," she said in an email.

Calgary-based WestJet Airlines said it is contacting all affected customers to arrange alternative travel plans.

"We respect the decision made by Transport Canada and are in the process of grounding the 13 Max aircraft in our fleet," the company said in a statement late Wednesday.

"We have 162 aircraft or more than 92 per cent of our overall fleet that remain in service."

Air Canada, along with Southwest and American Airlines, had been the major outliers in resisting a grounding of the planes. Air Canada has 24 Max 8 aircraft (out of 184 in its main fleet), which it uses mainly for domestic and U.S. routes.

Air Canada cancelled London-bound flights from Halifax and St. John's, N.L., after the United Kingdom banned all Boeing Max 8 jets from its airspace.

The U.S.-based Boeing had said it had no reason to pull the popular aircraft from the skies and did not intend to issue new recommendations about the aircraft to customers.

The Federal Aviation Administration had backed the jet's airworthiness before reversing course early Wednesday afternoon.

Garneau said the American authority is "an extremely professional organization" and Canada is "very comfortable" with it as a certifying agency for American makers' airplanes.

federal transport minister marc garneau will provide an update on canada's boeing 737 max 8 plan on wednesday morning in ottawa.

but he is facing an escalating dilemma over the aircraft, which a growing number of countries have grounded or banned after the crash that also claimed the lives of 18 canadians.

before clearing his schedule to meet with experts, garneau said tuesday he has no plans to ground canada's fleet of 737 max 8 aircraft, but that "all options are on the table."

sunday's ethiopian airlines crash has raised concerns over parallels to a lion air crash of the same model of aircraft in indonesia that killed 189 people last october.

earlier tuesday, authorities from more than half a dozen countries and regulators, including the european union aviation safety agency (easa), announced grounding orders or airspace bans on the aircraft. by tuesday evening, dozens of airlines had grounded the max 8, leaving the majority of the nearly 390 max 8s currently in service around the world confined to the hangar.

air canada, along with southwest and american airlines, are the major outliers.

robert kokonis, president of toronto-based consulting firm airtrav inc., said easa's suspension of all max 8 and max 9 planes puts "massive pressure" on garneau.

"it's really going to give the minister pause for thought," he said. "i think they've been feeling an unprecedented level of heat from social media — both airlines and aviation regulators."

adding to the pressure, the canadian union of public employees — which represents more than 8,000 air canada flight attendants — said late tuesday that its members have safety concerns as a result of the recent crash and don't want to be forced to fly on the max 8.

"the air canada component of cupe who represents flight attendants at air canada mainline and rouge is calling on the company to at a minimum continue to offer reassignment to crew members who do not want to fly on this type of airplane," said component president, wesley lesosky, in a statement. "the safety of passengers and crews must be the absolute priority."

air canada did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.

air canada has 24 max 8 aircraft, which it uses mainly for domestic and u.s. routes, while calgary-based westjet airlines ltd. has 13 max 8s.

a grounding order in canada would prove costly for canadian airlines, said karl moore, a professor at mcgill university's desautels faculty of management.

"it would have a considerable impact on both of them, because that's a lot of flights every day," he said.

"you'd have to cancel some flights. you'd try to use other planes, which are suboptimal. a q-400 is too small. you could use two big planes, which means that you're wasting money on fuel and you're not making money."

the airlines are also facing concerned passengers who want to re-book their flights to avoid the max 8.

flight centre travel agency said canadian airlines are not waiving flight-change or cancellation fees for passengers who want to switch to another aircraft.

air canada and westjet did not respond to requests for comment on fee waiving.

"we continue to monitor the situation and based on current info, and recommendations by government safety regulators, transport canada, the faa, and the manufacturer, we will continue to operate our normal b737 schedule and our current re-booking policies remain in place," air canada said in a tweet tuesday.

larry vance, an aviation consultant and former transportation safety board investigator, cautioned against drawing too many comparisons between sunday’s disaster and lion air flight 610, which plunged into the java sea on oct. 29.

the main similarities appear to be the aircraft model and the way the plane swiftly lost elevation after takeoff, briefly recovered and then plummeted to the ground.

"if i had a ticket to fly this afternoon and it was on that airplane, i would go to the airport, i would check in normally, i would get aboard the flight and go to sleep and enjoy my flight and get on with my day," vance said.

"the odds of me meeting my maker on that flight are as close to zero as you can get."

at halifax stanfield international airport on tuesday, air canada passengers arriving from london gave mixed reactions about flying on the aircraft.

angela taylor, whose 22-year-old daughter was flying alone for the first time, said she felt the aircraft should be grounded in canada.

"i was a bit perturbed air canada hadn't suspended flights when australia is not even letting any in or out," said taylor.

"you might be on the bandwagon, but for safety? come on."

patricia little, who was on the same flight as taylor's daughter, said riding the max 8 didn't worry her at all.

"i think it's a whole lot of hype. i think there's hundreds of thousands of planes that go, only one or two of them crash," said little, who lives in saint john, n.b.

"get a grip. you could die walking out there to your car."

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