American Airlines Extends 737 Max Deadline

As expected, American Airlines has followed United’s lead and canceled more flights that use the troubled Boeing 737 Max aircraft, the carrier announced Sunday.

The cancellation deadline is now December 3.

American had previously canceled 115 daily flights on the aircraft through November 2. airlines-boeing-737-max/index.html” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>According to CNN, the new round of cancellations will result in approximately 140 canceled American flights per day, the airline said.

Like United, extending the deadline now allows American to juggle its routes and aircraft without having to outright cancel flights.

United previously announced that all flights using the 737 Max are now canceled until December 19, some six weeks after its previously announced deadline of November 3. Southwest—the biggest U.S.-based customer of the 737 Max—has stopped all flights until at least January 5, 2020.

Boeing believes it can receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly again by October. The planes were grounded in March after two separate flights crashed, killing 346 passengers and crew.

The Federal Aviation Administration is apparently close to conducting a certification flight for the plane in October, the most important component in a series of steps to get the 737 Max flying again.

“The FAA’s certification of the Boeing 737 Max is the subject of several independent reviews and investigations that will examine all aspects of the five-year effort,” airlines/united-again-extends-737-max-cancellations.html” target=”_self” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>the agency told Bloomberg News Service. “While the agency’s certification processes are well established and have consistently produced safe aircraft designs, we welcome the scrutiny from these experts and look forward to their findings.”