Aviation

Thai Airways ban fat passengers and young parents from business class seats on their new Boeing 787-9

An overweight passenger stuck in British Airways first-class seat hoisted out after a 3-hour ordeal

BANGKOK: Passengers intending to fly business class on Thai Airways’ (THAI) new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft will have to first pass the waist test.

Flight Lieutenant Pratthana Pattanasirim, THAI’s director of security and flight standard division, said on Friday that a passenger with waist wider than 56 inches cannot fly business class on Boeing 787-9.

He explained that the business class seats have been installed with new safety belts and airbag system by the manufacturer in accordance with the safety standards of the US Federal Aviation Administration.

The safety belt cannot accommodate a passenger whose waist is larger than 56 inches.

Pratthana said the new safety-belt system cannot accommodate a parent with a child sitting on his or her lap hence parents travelling with young children also cannot fly business class on the Dreamliner.

THAI received the two Dreamliner planes in September last year and on March 6 announced that passengers with waist wider than 56 inches and carrying a lap-held infant could not fly business class.

Pratthana’s clarifications on Friday came in the wake of Thai papers carrying headlines that the airline had banned “fat people from flying the Dreamliner”. – The Nation/Asia News Network

Aviation

Boeing Resumes 737 MAX Manufacturing After Seven-Week Strike

In a crucial move for its recovery, Boeing has restarted production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner, about a month after a significant seven-week strike involving 33,000 factory workers came to an end.

This marks a key milestone for the planemaker, which has been facing considerable challenges in recent years, including heavy debt and a series of setbacks.

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According to the report from Reuters, Boeing resumed the production of the 737 MAX jetliner last week, a pivotal step as the company aims to meet the growing global demand for air travel. With over 4,200 orders from airlines, Boeing’s ability to get the 737 MAX production line back in motion is vital for its financial recovery.

Although Boeing had previously planned to restart production earlier, the company faced numerous obstacles that delayed this process. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Mike Whitaker told Reuters on Thursday that while Boeing had not yet resumed production, they had plans to restart by the end of the month.

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The road to this point has been rocky for Boeing. Setbacks such as the tragic fatal crashes of the 737 MAX, the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing supply chain issues, production safety concerns, and increased regulatory scrutiny have all contributed to delays in the company’s efforts to ramp up production.

The seven-week strike, which involved thousands of Boeing’s factory workers, added yet another hurdle. Despite these challenges, production of the 737 MAX officially resumed on Friday, according to one of the anonymous sources.

Boeing, however, declined to comment on the matter. The planemaker is now focused on reaching its goal of producing 56 737 MAX airplanes per month, a target that has been delayed due to the many issues that have beset the company over the past few years.