Boeing starts negotiations with DGCA for return of the grounded 737 Max

Boeing has started negotiations with Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for return of the grounded 737 MAX to service. Crucial among them is a demand that the US-based plane maker provides simulator training centre to pilots.

Additional but costly simulator training for pilots may dent the cost benefit of the aircraft as minimum hours of transition training (as low as one hour) for pilots was the main selling point among low-cost carriers across the world.

“One of the key observations from Indian aviation regulator is pilots flying the 737 MAX will require additional simulator training. Ideally airlines would want the simulator to be based out of India, but if not, SpiceJet will send its pilots to the Singapore-based simulator for training,” said a person aware of the development.