Releases Open Statement To Ethiopian People

Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam says that two weeks following the accident involving Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, the carrier still believes in Boeing.

The executive posted a statement on the airline's website updating the status of the investigation. He said that while he does not at this time want to speculate as to the cause, and many questions on the B-737 MAX airplane remain without answers, he pledges full and transparent cooperation to discover what went wrong.

"As it is well known in our global aviation industry, the differences training between the B-737 NG and the B-737 MAX recommended by Boeing and approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration called for computer-based training, but we went beyond that," said GebreMariam. "After the Lion Air accident in October, our pilots who fly the Boeing 737 Max 8 were fully trained on the service bulletin issued by Boeing and the Emergency Airworthiness Directive issued by the USA FAA. Among the seven Full Flight Simulators that we own and operate, two of them are for B-737 NG and the B-837 MAX. We are the only airline in Africa among the very few in the world with the B-737 MAX full flight Simulator. Contrary to some media reports, our pilots who fly the new model were trained on all appropriate simulators.

"The crews were well trained on this aircraft.

"Immediately after the crash and owing to the similarity with the Lion Air Accident, we grounded our fleet of Max 8s. Within days, the plane had been grounded around the world. I fully support this. Until we have answers, putting one more life at risk is too much."

GebreMariam stressed that Ethiopian Airlines continues to believe in Boeing. "They have been a partner of ours for many years. More than two-thirds of our fleet is Boeing. We were the first African airline to fly the 767, 757, 777-200LR, and we were the second nation in the world (after Japan) to take delivery of the 787 Dreamliner. Less than a month ago, we took delivery of yet another new two 737 cargo planes (a different version from the one that crashed). The plane that crashed was less than five months old," he said.

"Despite the tragedy, Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines will continue to be linked well into the future.

"In less than a decade, Ethiopian Airlines has tripled the size of its fleet – we now have 113 Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier aircraft flying to 119 international destinations in five continents. We have one of the youngest fleet in the industry; our average fleet age is five years while industry average is 12 years. Moreover, we have tripled the passenger volume, now flying more than 11 million passengers annually.

"Each year, our Aviation Academy trains more than 2,000 pilots, flight attendants, maintenance workers and other employees for Ethiopian Airlines and several other African airlines. We are the company others turn to for aviation expertise. In the last 5 years, we have invested more than half a Billion dollars in training and other infrastructure in our Addis Ababa base.

"We will work with investigators in Ethiopia, in the U.S. and elsewhere to figure out what went wrong with flight 302," the CEO promised.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg released a statement reinforcing GebreMariam's assertion that the accident does not define Ethiopian, "and it won’t define the aviation industry or our enduring relationship with their team. For those of us who have worked with them over the years, this comes as no surprise.

"Ethiopian Airlines has a proud history that stretches more than seven decades. In that time, Ethiopian has been a pioneer and a leader in our industry, launching Africa into the jet age, connecting the continent with all corners of the globe with its extensive network, and earning a reputation for service and safety," Muilenburg said. "More than just an airline, Ethiopian represents the pride and progress of a great people and a symbol of The New Spirit of Africa.

"We are all humbled and learning from this experience. We’ve stood shoulder to shoulder in partnership with the Ethiopian team to grieve and extend our deepest sympathies to the families, friends and communities of the passengers and crew.

"With a shared value of safety, be assured that we are bringing all of the resources of The Boeing Company to bear, working together tirelessly to understand what happened and do everything possible to ensure it doesn’t happen again. All of us thank Ethiopian Airlines for their commitment and share their resolve to doing everything possible to build an even safer air travel system.

"Boeing stands together with all our customers and partners to earn and strengthen the flying public’s trust and confidence in us every day."

(Source: Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing Statements. Images from file)

FMI: www.ethiopianairlines.com, www.boeing.com