Belarusian flag carrier Belavia is gearing up to welcome its first 737 MAX 8 aircraft to its fleet in early April, nearly three years after the deal was made.
The contract for the delivery of a Boeing 737 MAX jet was signed on 17 July 2018 between Belavia and the US leasing company Air Lease Corporation.
The deal pertains to the lease of four Boeing 737 MAX jets in total.
It is unclear if the airline still wishes to complete the delivery of the other three jets, and if so, when this will take place.
Likely in an attempt to soothe public concern over the safety of the troubled MAX jets, the airline highlighted the vigorous training that staff have undergone, both before and after the jet was grounded.
Between July 2018 and the global grounding of the 737 MAX in March 2019, after the contract with ALC and Boeing was signed, Belavia stated its staff were trained considerably in the jet’s operations and systems.
Then, throughout the early months of 2021, staff at Belavia underwent additional extensive training on the 737 MAX, the airline said.
The airline has said it has now also complied with all additional training requirements as specified under the jet’s recertification.
“We began preparations for acceptance of the aircraft about one and a half to two years ago,” said Oleg Saltovsky, commander of the Belavia aviation team.
“First, we studied the theory on our base. One may say that the most important aspect of training is flight safety. We pay a lot of attention to pilot training: we study theory here, pass testing through Oxford and Boeing.
“The manufacturer requests data for each pilot, and as a rule, only pilots-in-command with flight experience of more than 15,000 flying hours are permitted to operate; these pilots-in-command are the best of the best.
“Then, contracts are concluded with training centres; training programs are approved by the Aviation Department and agreed with Boeing. Only after that, pilots go to Istanbul, where they pass all the tests and receive an online certificate.”
When the deal was first announced, the airline said it intended to replace its fleet of 737s entirely with the 737 MAX.
