Canadian airlines try to reassure flyers after fatal plane crash

Growing concerns about safety of Max 8s Passengers voiced their concerns about the safety of new Boeing 737s following a crash that killed 157.

MONTREAL - Transport Minister Marc Garneau said he would board “without hesitation” the type of aircraft that crashed in the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy on Sunday, stressing his confidence in the new plane.

Garneau's remarks came minutes after a statement from the Air Canada Pilots Association that called on the minister “to take proactive action to ensure the safety of the Canadian travelling public.”

The crash, which killed all 157 aboard the Boeing 737 Max 8 - including 18 Canadians - has raised concerns over parallels to a Lion Air crash of the same model of aircraft in Indonesia last October, killing 189 people.

Amid questions on continued Max 8 flights in Canada, Garneau says people should not jump to conclusions about the cause of the crash, telling reporters it could be one of “dozens of different possibilities.”

“It was a sunny day, an experienced pilot, the plane was brand new. But we know little else,” he said, noting the black box has been recovered.

“Flying in this country is one of the safest ways to travel. The statistics very, very clearly prove that.”

Garneau said he has been in touch with U.S. Transportation Department Secretary Elaine Chao and is working with American aviation authorities to uncover the problem “and then take action.”

Canada's major airlines have been inundated on social media with questions about the safety of their fleet in the wake of Sunday's fatal crash, which occurred after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

Angie Hung, scheduled to take a WestJet flight June 5 from Calgary to Halifax en route to Scotland for a Spice Girls concert, was one of scores of Canadians asking airlines if they planned to ground the Max 8, the plane listed on her flight.

“I am planning to tweet, 'I love you Mom and Dad,”' she said in an interview, “in case something bad happens.”

“If I could afford to cancel and change it, I would,” said Hung, 42.

Fernando Candido, an Edmonton-based elementary school teacher, said he flies up to 10 times per year.

“I'm kind of worried. I'm sure eventually I'll have to use one of those planes,” said Candido, 58. “Maybe in Canada they should not fly those planes any more until they figure out those issues.”

The country's two largest airlines said they are confident in the safety of the Boeing 737 Max 8 and will continue to fly them.

“These aircraft have performed excellently from a safety, reliability and customer satisfaction perspective,” Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur said in an email. “We continue to operate our normal B737 schedule.”

Air Canada, which has fielded comments from more than 100 Twitter users in the past 24 hours, said it has 24 Max 8 aircraft on routes that include Vancouver to Montreal and Calgary to Vancouver.

WestJet Airlines Ltd. tweeted Monday that it is not grounding any of the 13 Max 8s in its fleet of 121 Boeing 737s.

“WestJet remains confident in the safety of our Boeing 737 fleet,” spokeswoman Morgan Bell said in an email. The airline is “working with Boeing to ensure the continued safe operation of our Max fleet,” she said.

The Calgary-based company has orders for 37 more Boeing 737s on the books.

Sunwing Airlines also has four 737 aircraft, according to civil aircraft registrations.

WestJet has flown five different models of the 737 since the airline was founded in 1996, and now operates about 450 daily departures of the plane series, according to the company.

The Boeing jetliner is relatively new, entering into service at both airlines in 2017.

Ethiopian Airlines as well as all Chinese and Indonesian airlines have grounded their Boeing 737 Max 8 planes indefinitely in the wake of the crash.

The unions for Air Canada and WestJet flight crews declined to comment on the crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302.

Priya Pandit said her mom and sister are “nervous” about their scheduled return to Vancouver from Honolulu on a Max 8 operated by Air Canada. The family has been trying to reschedule to avoid the airplane model, she said.

“This is no joke...You can't play with passenger safety,” said Pandit, 38.

“Our passengers' safety is important to us,” Air Canada tweeted to Pandit on Monday. “We continue to monitor the situation, and based on current information and recommendations by government safety regulators, including Transport Canada, and the manufacturer, we continue to operate our normal B737 schedule.”