UP IN THE AIR

Boeing 737 Max Carries First Commercial Passengers Since Deadly Crashes

“If anything happens, look after my dogs please!” one passenger on the Gol Airlines flight joked.

Boeing’s 737 Max is back in business. The plane took its first commercial flight on Wednesday after being grounded for more than a year due to two crashes that killed more than 300 people. Brazilian airline Gol flew a 737 Max from Sao Paolo to Porto Alegre and will move the jets back into its regular commercial rotation on December 18. Customers can choose to change their flight if they don’t want to fly on a 737 Max. According to the Associated Press, some passengers were more aware than others that they were about to get on the controversial model, although the information was printed on their tickets. “I was a bit apprehensive but my husband is a pilot, so I asked him. He said it was fine,” one passenger told the AP, before adding that she texted her mom and jokingly asked her, “If anything happens, look after my dogs please!”

American Airlines did a demo flight on a 737 Max last week and plans to begin using the jets for regular commercial flights later this month.