After 2 Crashes of New Boeing Jet, Pilot Training Now a Focus – The New York Times

After his first call with Mr. Muilenburg, Mr. Trump was leaning against banning the flights, according to the person. But aides urged the president to intervene, telling him that the United States couldn’t be the only country to allow the planes to keep flying.

Instead of letting the F.A.A. announce the grounding, Mr. Trump blurted it out during an event about drug trafficking. “The safety of the American people and all people is our paramount concern,” he said. He added of Boeing, “They are working very, very hard right now and hopefully they’ll very quickly come up with the answer, but until they do, the planes are grounded.”

It is unclear when the planes will start flying again. The company is expected to roll out a software fix by April, which will modify features of the jet around the automated system.

But Boeing isn’t planning to overhaul its training procedures. And neither the F.A.A., nor the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, are proposing additional simulator training for pilots, according to a person familiar with the deliberations. Instead, the regulators and Boeing agree that the best way to inform pilots about the new software is through additional computer-based training, which can be done on their personal computers.

While many pilots in the United States are still committed to the plane, they are pushing for Boeing to be more proactive.