American Airlines Plans to Test 737 MAX With Employees Only

American Airlines, which has already committed to using the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft again now that it has been recertified, will run five ‘test flights to nowhere’ using only its employees before reintroducing the plane to the public.

The 737 MAX was grounded for almost two years after a pair of crashes killed 346 passengers and crew. It was recertified by the Federal Aviation Administration earlier this month.

American said it is planning to put the plane into service on Dec. 29 with a flight between Miami and New York. The carrier has been allowing customers to tour the aircraft and talk to pilots to ease concerns and get a better understanding of what improvements were made to the model.

But before that, American plans to run its test flights. According to the blog View From The Wing, the carrier’s 737 MAX planes will take off, spend about an hour in the air, and then return to the same airport with airline employees aboard.

The schedule includes flights on Dec. 3 from Dallas-Fort Worth; Dec. 8 and 17 from Miami International; and Dec. 9 and 15 from New York-LaGuardia.

The sites were very much intentional – Dallas is where American’s headquarters is located, and Miami and New York-LGA are the two cities where the first official 727 MAX flights will run between.

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