United Airlines announced it has lowered its growth plans for 2019 due to the grounding of its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX plane.
According to The Associated Press, United officials said they are using spare planes to make up for the 14 MAX jets grounded by the FAA and delaying discretionary maintenance work on the other aircraft in the airline’s fleet.
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The carrier also announced it would seek compensation from Boeing due to the grounding.
United revealed that while it is using other aircraft to serve routes previously flown with 737 MAX planes, the company is enduring extra costs as the airline is being forced to use larger two-aisle jets to replace the missing single-aisle MAX on domestic routes.
“Obviously there are some costs that we have been incurring and continue to incur,” United’s Gerry Laderman said during a conference call. “We’ll have a conversation with Boeing and I expect, like we always do, to resolve whatever that conversation is in a way that works for both of us.”
United officials also announced it would cancel 130 flights in April due to the Boeing MAX being grounded. The airplane manufacturer is working on anti-stall software to remedy the issues that arose following two crashes that killed 346 people.
