It is important to emphasize airlines still want the MAX – that’s the view of Aviation Week Network's Senior Air Transport and Safety Editor, Sean Broderick, speaking at the recent CAPA Live November Summit.

“Even if it's replacing an older in-service airframe, airlines want the MAX in their fleets, despite the crisis. They're more efficient and, in some places, more capable. Some airlines were flying the MAX trans-Atlantic and into South America before the virus hit and this is the kind of things the airlines will want to do," Broderick added.

Operators want the MAX for the flexibility and the efficiency that the type offers, as airlines work their way out of the crisis.

Regulatory approvals will come from the US first, followed by Canada, Brazil and some others in the Western Hemisphere, and IASA would follow soon after, within a couple of weeks, though bigger question marks remain in other places, including India and China, according to Broderick.

“It’ll probably be December (2020) and then the airlines will begin to ready their aeroplanes to return to service, which is a process in and of itself”, Broderick concluded.