In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration, which certified the latest version of Boeing’s best-selling jet as airworthy in 2017, has not taken that step despite mounting questions about the plane’s safety record. Robert W. Mann, an airline industry consultant in Port Washington, N.Y., described what a grounding entails and the factors regulators consider when making the decision to order one. A grounding occurs when the relevant safety regulator (the F.A.A. in the United States, or the European Aviation Safety Agency in Europe) removes the airworthiness certificate for a certain kind of plane. Effectively that makes those airplanes unusable in that jurisdiction, and also in other jurisdictions that have accepted a particular regulator’s authority.

Source: New York Times March 11, 2019 16:47 UTC