American Airlines Extends Boeing 737 MAX Cancellations Until September
by Daniel McCarthy
American Airlines is offering full refunds for anyone scheduled for a flight that is now canceled because of the Boeing 737 MAX ban. Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com
American Airlines on Sunday extended the cancellations of Boeing 737 MAX flights through Sept. 3, 2019, three weeks longer than was previously scheduled.
About 115 flights will be canceled per day because of the extension, America said, including some that were not scheduled on a MAX. American is reaching out to all impacted customers by email or telephone, along with all travel agencies who have clients affected.
American is also offering full refunds for anyone scheduled for a flight that is now canceled.
“American Airlines remains confident that impending software updates to the Boeing 737 MAX, along with the new training elements Boeing is developing in coordination with our union partners, will lead to recertification of the aircraft soon,” the airline said in a statement.
American has been dealing with the fallout from the Boxing 737 MAX removal since March, when the U.S. joined the rest of the world in grounding all Boeing 737 MAX jets after a second deadly crash involving the Boeing aircraft in less than five months.
Last month, Boeing had said that a software update to fix the flight control issue for the jets had been completed and tested and that it was waiting for an FAA review to announce the recertification, which has not yet happened.
In a speech on May 22, FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell said that “the FAA will return the 737 MAX to service in the United States only when we determine, based on facts and technical data, that it is safe to do so.”
