US carriers have extended the cancellation of Boeing 737 MAX services until at least August, taking the troubled planes out of service for the peak summer travel period.
The moves come after Boeing conceded in January it did not expect regulatory approval until the middle of the year. This is despite the fact regulators appear to be aligning on design fixes needed to return the MAX to service.
READ: Global regulators appear to agree on design fixes.
The MAX has been grounded since March 2019 after a flight control system was implicated in two crashes that killed 346 people.
The grounded planes are awaiting regulatory approval for changes to the flight control software, known as MCAS, as well as for a pilot training regime.
Once that happens, airlines will require time to prepare their aircraft to fly again and reintegrate them into their schedules.
The three US airlines had previously removed the planes from their schedules until June.
The latest change sees Southwest Airlines keep the aircraft out of its schedule until August 10, affecting more than 370 weekdays flights. The airline has 34 grounded planes and is the biggest US operator of the MAX.
“By proactively removing the MAX from scheduled service, we can reduce last-minute flight cancellations and unexpected disruptions to our customers’ travel plans,’’ Southwest said.
“The limited number of customers who have already booked their travel and will be affected by our amended schedule will be notified of their re-accommodated travel according to our flexible accommodation procedures.”
United Airlines has opted for the longest delay and plans to reintroduce the MAX on September 4.
It said the decision would allow it to plan services over summer with greater certainty.
American has opted for an August 18 return. It said it would run the formal schedule change on March 23 and customers previously booked on the Max would see their reservation updates on aa.com.
“American expects to gradually phase in the MAX for commercial service and will increase flying on the aircraft throughout the month of August and into September,’’ it said.
“Since American will gradually phase the MAX into our operation over the course of a month, additional refinements to our schedule may occur. Affected customers will be contacted directly.
Boeing has suspended production of the MAX but already has about 400 planes in storage it will also need to update and prepare for delivery.
A big challenge for all parties will be convincing people it is safe to again travel on the plane.
