Southwest Airlines will return the Boeing 737 MAX to revenue service beginning March 11, 2021, the carrier announced on Thursday.
The low-cost airline plans to fly the MAX—which was grounded in March 2019 following two fatal crashes in the span of six months—on 10 daily point-to-point sequences during the initial month before transitioning to normal operations in mid-April.
Thursday’s announcement accompanied Southwest’s fourth quarter and annual 2020 results report, which saw the carrier record its first annual loss since its first full year of operations in 1972.
Southwest is currently working to meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) new requirements for the MAX, including installing important software updates and implementing enhanced pilot training.
“Since the FAA issued official requirements in November 2020 that enable airlines to return the Boeing 737 MAX to service, we have been working to meet the FAA’s requirements by modifying certain operating procedures, implementing enhanced pilot training requirements, installing FAA-approved flight control software updates, and completing other required maintenance tasks specific to the MAX aircraft,” said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly.
“I recently had the opportunity to fly on one of our MAX operational readiness flights, which only reaffirmed my supreme confidence in Southwest’s ability to operate the MAX safely. I am very proud of our many teams who are working diligently to prepare us for returning the MAX to revenue service on March 11, 2021, once all FAA requirements are met and all active pilots have received updated MAX-related training.”
American Airlines was the first U.S. airline to resume service with the MAX last month. United Airlines will resume MAX service in February while Alaska Airlines will join Southwest in debuting the aircraft in March.
