On Tuesday, American Airlines gave the green signal to the first commercial flight of a Boeing 737 MAX in the US after almost two years.
After two horrifying crashes that killed hundreds of passengers, the plane was grounded worldwide leading the airplane manufacturer into a crisis. Because the MAX was Boeing's top selling aircraft, after it was barred from skies, the company plunged into losses and struggled through two years, worsened by the Covid-19 hit pandemic.
Even since then Boeing has been working on improvements with regulators to address technical issues and on pilot training as well. This led to countries allowing its return to service and hopes for the airline to reverse its fortune.
The first of the US carriers to return the plane to service, American flight 718 carrying about 100 passengers took off from Miami bound for New York's La Guardia airport around 1544 GMT, an AFP video journalist at the airport reported.
"This is an aircraft that has been more highly scrutinized than any ever before. We're very confident that this aircraft is the safest in the skies," the airline's president Robert Isom said before the flight's departure.
