The American agency FAA has mandated the inspection of almost 1900 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft worldwide due to the risk of cracks in the structure. However, Russian carriers will no longer be affected by this campaign — the last aircraft of this family left the domestic commercial fleet back in 2022.
The only domestic operator of the Boeing 737 MAX was S7 Airlines. In 2018, its subsidiary airline "Globus" was the first in the country to receive two Boeing 737 MAX 8s, opening commercial operation of this family in Russia.
However, after two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, the operation of aircraft of this type was suspended in many countries around the world. Later, sanctions and the cessation of cooperation with Boeing complicated the situation for Russian airlines.
In April 2022, S7 Airlines received permission to return both Boeing 737 MAX 8s to lessors. Since then, aircraft of this family are no longer operated by Russian commercial air carriers, so the new FAA directive effectively does not apply to the domestic aviation market.
At the same time, Boeing 737 MAX flights in Russian airspace are not prohibited. Restrictions apply only to aircraft of airlines from states included in the list of unfriendly countries.