Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, the country's biggest domestic airline, said it will be the first to resume commercial flights using Boeing's 737 Max after regulators lifted a 20-month ban on the embattled aircraft.
Passenger operations on the Max will start from Wednesday on domestic routes to and from its Sao Paulo hub, Gol said in a statement, without specifying which destinations the Max will serve.
"Over the past 20 months, we have watched the most comprehensive safety review in the history of commercial aviation unfold, bringing together regulatory agencies and airlines from around the world to monitor and contribute to the upgrades in aircraft systems and pilot training," said Celso Ferrer, vice-president of operations at Gol.
Following the aircraft's new certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration and Brazil's National Agency Civil Aviation Administration, Gol is "fully confident" in the Max's return to service, Mr Ferrer, who is also a commercial pilot and trained to fly the 737 Max, said.
The airline trained 140 of its pilots in the US using a Max simulator, meeting all the technical and operational requirements outlined in the plan approved by the US and Brazilian regulators, and completed a series of technical flights.
Gol, Brazil's sole operator of the 737 Max, said all seven of the 737 Max aircraft in its current fleet should be cleared to return fully to operation by the end of December. It will gradually reincorporate the jets into its flight schedules according to operational needs.
Gol's announcement comes after American Airlines said it will re-launch its Max service on flights connecting Miami with New York by the end of 2020.
Boeing's best-selling jet was grounded in March 2019 after two crashes within five months of each other collectively killed 346 people.
Boeing redesigned the flight-control software following the incidents.
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
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- Grade 7 = grade A
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- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
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On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
