The Boeing 737 Max has made more than 2,700 flights since grounding

• The Boeing 737 Max has flown more than 2,700 passenger flights in 5,500 hours since November 2020.
• Five airlines currently carry passengers on the Max in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Panama and Mexico.
• The European Union’s Aviation Safety Agency approved the Max for carrying passengers on Wednesday.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Boeing has put a considerable distance between the 20-month grounding of its 737 Max and now more than 2,700 flights and around 5,500 flight hours, the manufacturer said on Wednesday.

“We made significant progress on the 737 program this quarter,” said Dave Calhoun, chief executive of Boeing. “This is the culmination of a global effort comprising approximately 400,000 hours of engineering, 1,400 tests and verifications and over 3,000 hours of flight time on the aircraft.”

The Federal Aviation Administration cleared the Max to fly again on November 18, with regulators in Latin America, Canada and more recently the European Union following suit. The European Union’s Aviation Safety Agency gave the green light to Boeing’s ailing plane on Wednesday, allowing airlines like Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Icelandair, among others, to finally resume flights Max.

Countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific remain the most notable outliers in the resumption of Max flights, with China in particular continuing to wait for recertification. Calhoun said all pending approvals from foreign regulators are expected to come in the first half of 2021.

And despite the plane’s infamous reputation, airlines report that flight loads remain aligned with other planes, indicating that travelers are not actively avoiding the Max. Anticipated skepticism from passengers about flying on the Max prompted airlines to come up with flexible change policies that allow travelers to leave the plane.

Read more: The 16 Most Outrageous Things Boeing Employees Said About The Company, The 737 Max Program And Each Other In Posted Internal Emails

Boeing’s first priority is to re-fly the already delivered Max aircraft. Only five airlines have resumed flying their Max jets and new regulatory approvals will mean more will do so in the weeks and months to come.

“Each airline has different operational considerations for returning planes to commercial service and deadlines for training their pilots,” Calhoun said. “We support each of them throughout their process.”

Gol Linhas Aéreas was the first airline to resume Max flights in early December, soon followed by Aeromexico on December 21 and American Airlines on December 29.

American, despite his late departure, turns out to be the primary driver of Max flights as he continues to develop his route network with the airplane. In March, the U.S. 737 Max aircraft will fly as far west as San Diego, Calif., As far north as Boston, and as far south as Manaus, Brazil, according to data from Cirium.

United Airlines will resume Max flights on February 11 from Denver and Houston, while Southwest Airlines will launch its first Max flights in March, the last of all U.S. airlines to have flown the Max before its grounding in March 2019.

Simultaneously, Boeing will continue to deliver new Max jets to airlines as new builds sit idle at airports across the country and in Seattle-area parking lots. Backlog deliveries of 450 aircraft resumed in December and more than 40 aircraft have been delivered since.

“Prior to delivery, teams perform all necessary testing and ensure that each aircraft receives personalized care and rolls into a delivery stand ready for customer acceptance and FAA review,” Calhoun said. .

Alaska Airlines just took delivery of its first Max on January 23, the fourth and last U.S. airline to receive the Max yet, with plans for a March 1 launch. The Seattle-Los Angeles and Seattle-San Diego routes will be the first to see the aircraft on launch day.

Boeing has lost hundreds of Max orders due to the plane’s grounding and the COVID-19 pandemic, but new orders continue to arrive. Since grounding, Irishman Ryanair has placed a Max order for 75 aircraft, Alaska has increased its firm Max order to 68 aircraft and Flair Airlines of Canada has just leased 13 Max aircraft.

However, billions remain to be paid in compensation to customers due to the prolonged grounding.

“Cumulatively, we have accumulated a liability of $ 9.6 billion for estimated potential concessions and other considerations,” said Gregory Smith, Boeing CFO, on the 737 Max. “To date, we have made $ 3.7 billion in customer payments in cash and other forms of compensation, including $ 600 million that we paid this quarter.

But the biggest obstacle to Boeing’s return after two fatal crashes with the Max has been overcome as the plane is back in the sky and as a result deliveries have resumed and orders are arriving again.

“Following one of the most rigorous certification efforts in aviation history, we are confident in the safety of our aircraft,” Calhoun said.