American Airlines announced Sunday it will continue canceling all flights with Boeing 737 MAX planes through August 19. The airline said that about 115 flights per day would be canceled.
“As we prepare for summer, our focus is around planning for the busiest travel period of the year,” the airline said in a statement. “Our commitment to each other and to our customers is to operate the safest and most reliable operation in our history.”
American had previously planned to suspend MAX flights through June 5.
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All Boeing 737 MAX flights in the U.S. have been grounded since March 13, following two deadly crashes within five months that killed a total of 346 people. Several other nations around the world also suspended flights with that model, pending further investigation into the crashes.
American said it remains “confident” that software updates and new training for the Boeing planes “will lead to recertification of the aircraft soon.”
The airline said that not all scheduled flights with MAX aircraft will be canceled — it may substitute other planes. Flights on other types of aircraft could be canceled to free up routes that will cover the MAX cancelations.
American is the third major U.S. airline to announce a suspension of 737 MAX flights. United canceled all MAX flights through June 5, and Southwest canceled through August 5.
The Federal Aviation Administration is still investigating the two deadly crashes, and it recently met with representatives from American, Southwest, United and their pilot unions to discuss the plane’s safety questions.
Being said last week it had completed 96 flight tests of the 737 MAX with a software update, and expects to submit the update to FAA regulators soon.
