The global grounding of the Boeing 737 Max jets has cost the air industry dearly and hopes are high that the aircraft will be back in the air by no later than December. The aircraft were grounded in March, following two fatal crashes within five months of each other, but the exact date of return of the Max remains unknown. According to Wrenelle Stander, joint chief executive officer of Comair, the airline has budgeted for the return of its fleet of Max aircraft by December. Comair is just one of numerous airlines to have removed the jets from its flight schedules. Stander said it had been an expensive endeavour, more so considering that Comair had eight of the aircraft on order from Boeing. “One is already in the country and is on the ground. It is an extremely expensive asset for us at this point as we cannot fly it,” she said at the monthly Transport Forum, held at the University of Johannesburg. “The second Max has been completed and is in Seattle in the US. We have refused to take possession of the aircraft until such time as it is no longer grounded. We simply cannot have a second aircraft incurring costs and interest while we are unable to fly it.” She said the moment the company took possession of the aircraft it was legally bound to start paying for it. “The third of the eight aircraft is currently being manufactured.” British Airways (BA) is believed to have 200 of the jets on order from Boeing. Whilst the grounding of the aircraft for the most part has not had a major effect on operations at BAs or other airlines that have ordered them, the bigger problem has been the aircraft on order that airlines either don’t want to take delivery of or can’t get. “This has been very difficult and costly,” said Stander, indicating that Boeing had, to a certain extent, closed ranks around the Max 737 and information remained scant. “We know that test flights are being or have been conducted and that all the aeronautical authorities are intending to lift the grounding on the same day. Questions are still being asked about the aircraft so it has not yet been cleared.” Stander said they remained hopeful that the jets would be back in the air by December, but did not rule out the possibility of the aircraft only being ungrounded in 2020. “More importantly, we have started on a strategy on how we are going to get passengers and cargo back on those planes as that is going to be the biggest challenge by far.”