SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co hires up to 160 pilots to join airlines in its latest bid to ensure its 737 MAX has a good return after a 20-month safety ban, according to a document of recruitment seen by Reuters and people familiar with the movement.
The new “global participation pilots” will act as cabin instructors or observers in 35-day assignments with an equivalent annual salary that could reach $ 200,000, for a total potential cost of $ 32 million, said one of the people.
The unusual recruitment campaign is part of a Boeing campaign to protect the launch of its redesigned 737 MAX from operational failures and rebuild confidence after the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed a total of 346 people.
The strategy also includes 24/7 surveillance of 737 MAX flights worldwide and talk points for flight attendants to reassure passengers expressing concern.
“Duties include: consulting activities and customer service assistance, including flight opportunities,” according to a summary seen by Reuters about the working conditions of a contracting company that conducts recruitment on behalf of Boeing.
Pilots must have 1,000 hours of instructor experience and “have no incidents, accidents, losses or violations” and must be licensed for the 737 and other Boeing airliners, he said.
“We continue to work closely with regulators and global customers to safely return the 737-8 and 737-9 to service around the world,” a Boeing spokeswoman said.
Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have said the plane is one of the safest in the world after improvements in cockpit software and pilot training.
But a good return to service is considered vital for Boeing, which faces $ 20 billion in costs.
Boeing has already drawn up plans for an initial $ 1 million investment in recruiting, training and developing fighter pilots for the next generation of pilots.
But safety experts said his decision to recruit pilots directly is unusual and indicates Boeing’s desire to start returning to service and normalize the MAX as soon as possible.
EXTRA PILOTS
CCL Aviation, based in the Isle of Man, UK, hires pilots on behalf of Boeing, according to sources and the document. The company makes a name for itself as the world’s largest provider of pilot training and flight training personnel.
CCL Aviation could not be reached immediately for comment.
Additional pilots are just one of the ways Boeing maintains close ties with the launch of the 737 MAX.
Boeing has also set up a war room 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at its Seal Beach, California facility, where personnel using massive LCD screens will manage “fleet surveillance in real-time “for the” rapid resolution of problems “in case of emergency, informed sources told Reuters of the plan. .
Boeing has also deployed “specialized on-site teams” with 154 team members supporting five global regions.
According to a person with knowledge of the effort, he has held discussions with dozens of airlines to produce documents that carriers will use to discuss the safety of the 737 MAX with passengers.
This includes a one-page introduction that offers brief and simple answers to flight attendants to passenger questions about what went wrong during the 737 MAX crashes and how Boeing fixed the problems, according to the person and a second source of the industry.
But the inclusion of a language on “shared responsibility” caused delays and upset some airlines, the second person said.
Indonesian researchers have said Boeing did not capture the risks in designing the MAX’s cabin software, sowing the seeds for a 2018 crash that also involved errors on the part of airline workers and crew. U.S. regulators authorized the MAX last month.
Report by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Edited by Tim Hepher and David Gregorio