India joined late Tuesday a global ban on flying the Boeing 737 MAX plane after this week’s crash of this aircraft type in the African skies, increasing the likelihood of a further rise in domestic fares that remain high due to unrelated flight cancellations by some carriers.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft will be banned in Indian airspace from 4 pm today, the government has said. The aircraft will also be grounded in the country by 4 pm, an official of aviation watchdog DGCA said, according to news agency PTI. Last night, the regulator had announced that the planes would be grounded “immediately” for the sake of passenger safety, three days after an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed, killing 157 people including four Indians.
US officials say the aircrafts are still safe to fly.
However, the US Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union is now calling for the Federal Aviation Administration “to temporarily ground the 737 Max fleet in the US out of an abundance of caution”.
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