Boeing Co.’s 737 Max will likely not be back in the skies before the end of this year Clark says this is because of a fall-out in cooperation between the US Federal Aviation Administration and other national regulators SEOUL: Emirates airline President Tim Clark said on Sunday that global regulators should act in a coordinated way to return the Boeing 737 MAX to service and warned it could take six months to get the grounded jet back into operation. The forecast from the head of Emirates, whose sister airline flydubai is a major MAX customer, is more cautious than some industry predictions but echoes concerns at a global airlines meeting in Seoul about a piecemeal response by regulators. Boeing’s best-selling jet was grounded after two crashes, in Indonesia and Ethiopia, killed a total of 346 people. The 737 MAX crashes have thrown the spotlight on cockpit software and a certification system which relies on the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) delegating some approval tasks to Boeing staff working on their behalf. “I think the investigations ... will probably reveal that the FAA perhaps unwittingly let a little bit too much go,” said Clark. “And I think that the other regulators didn’t realize how much the FAA had empowered the manufacturing delegates,” he added. Clark warned it could take six months to restore operations as other regulators re-examine the US delegation practices — though US majors have only suspended MAX schedules to August. “That is why it is going to take time to get this aircraft back in the air. If it is in the air by Christmas I’ll be surprised — my own view,” he told reporters. The FAA says it has no firm date but has indicated privately to other regulators that it aims to certify new software by end-June, after which it could take weeks to get planes flying. A person familiar with the plans said the FAA wanted an “orderly” process, anticipating a sequence of approvals for software changes and training rather than one global decision. If confirmed, that could see 737 MAX aircraft back in the air in some markets as early as the summer, the person said, barring further hitches or surprises in the ongoing review. Airline officials say any new bout of staggered decisions could cause problems in operations and code-sharing. “Obviously for us to operate the MAX, the approval from the Singapore authorities is not enough. We have to operate somewhere ... Indonesia and China are two important markets for us,” Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong told Reuters. But the EU’s top transport official said bloc’s regulator, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), reserved the right to carry out its own separate review at its own pace. “Certainly EASA will take a very close look at the results (of proposed design changes) and then make a decision and that message was very clearly passed,” Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc told Reuters. “We always work together with other regulators and we certainly will take joint moves, but EASA will reserve the right to take an individual look at the results and then of course engage with the rest of the regulators.” Asked how long it would take to end the crisis, she said, “I hope as soon as possible, because we do need to restore order and trust and move on.”