Leader of American Airlines pilots wants candor from Boeing

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - The new president of the American Airlines pilots' union says his group will help assure the public that the Boeing 737 Max is safe when it is cleared to fly again.

But Eric Ferguson also said Monday that Boeing needs to fully explain how the Max differs from previous versions of the 737 - something Boeing failed to do when it rolled out the new model.

Ferguson took over the Allied Pilots Association in June, a few months after a heated meeting between Boeing officials and some American Airlines pilots who were angry that Boeing didn't tell them about new flight-control software that could push the 737 Max's nose down.

The software activated based on faulty sensor data on flights that crashed off Indonesia and in Ethiopia, killing 346 people.