AIRLINE INDUSTRY/FAA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump put pressure on Boeing Thursday [3-14-19] to fix the issues with its 737 MAX airliners, adding that he hopes the grounding of the jets is only ‘for a short period of time.’ While speaking to reporters during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Trump said his administration had to take a ‘cautionary route’ by grounding the jets…Trump and the Federal Aviation Administration lagged behind many other countries in grounding the planes, as they waited for evidence of a common flaw between Sunday’s [3-10-19] crash in Ethiopia and the air disaster in Indonesia in October. But Trump reversed his position on Wednesday, preempting the FAA and appearing to surprise at least one airline…The president added that Boeing, one of the top manufacturers in the U.S., is a ‘great company’ and hoped it would quickly figure out what is wrong with the aircraft. Boeing has registered more than 7,700 orders for the MAX from air carriers around the world.”
–Rebecca Morin, “Trump on Boeing grounding: ‘I hope it is for a short period’,” Politico, March 14, 2019 11:57 am