Boeing remains unsure how the Federal Aviation Administration will handle the company’s request for regulatory exemptions related to the stall management yaw damper (SMYD) on the 737 Max 7 and Max 10.
The company requested the exemption for both types in January, saying that the system, while proven safe, does not comply with what it called “increased regulatory expectations”.
Boeing badly needs to achieve certification of the 737 Max 7 and Max 10. Both types are already years behind schedule, customers have been clamouring for the jets and delays have cost Boeing market share to rival Airbus.
“Nothing is concluded,” Boeing chief financial officer Brian West said about the SMYD exemption request on 19 March.
“We are working with the FAA on the… SMYD” and using “extensive analysis and research to [determine] the right path forward,” he adds, speaking during a Bank of America investor conference.
The exemption would allow the Max 7 and 10 to be certificated by the FAA despite Boeing not having demonstrated that the SMYDs meet new, stricter regulatory requirements for software.
But also, the Max 7 and Max 10’s SMYDs support new “enhanced” angle of attack (AOA) “safety features” that Boeing intends to deploy on all Max variants, including the already-certificated Max 8 and 9, it has said.
As a result, delays in certification of the Max 7 and Max 10 will likewise push back Boeing’s roll out of the AOA update in the other models.
The update gives the jets a “synthetic” AOA sensor to supplement the current system, which includes two mechanical AOA sensors. Boeing developed the changes in response to regulatory scrutiny following two 737 Max crashes, in 2018 and 2018.
The Air Line Pilots Association, International has asked the FAA to reject Boeing’s exemption request, saying an approval would permit the SMYD to meet a lesser reliability standard than otherwise required.
