United Airlines pulls Boeing 737 MAX from schedule until November
United Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX planes will stay off the airline's flight schedule as the jets remain grounded.
The airline said Friday the troubled planes will stay grounded until at least Nov. 3. It expects to cancel dozens of flights a day as a result, including 2,100 in September and 2,900 in October.
The airline had previously said it would keep the 737 MAX grounded through early September, according to Reuters.
A Lion Air 737 MAX crashed near Indonesia in October. Then, an Ethiopian Air 737 MAX crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa in March. Nearly 350 people were killed between the two crashes. Various countries began grounding the planes over safety concerns.
Since the grounding, United said it has turned to “creative solutions” and spare aircraft to help minimize the impact on its customers’ travel plans. It will continue to swap aircraft where possible to mitigate the disruption moving forward.
“We will continue to automatically book affected customers on alternate flights,” the airline said in a statement to FOX Business on Friday. “If we are unable to place them on a different flight, we will proactively reach out to try and offer other options.”
The news came just days before United is scheduled to announce its Q2 financial results.
Southwest Airlines has said its 737 MAX jets will remain grounded until at least Oct. 1 and American Airlines has pulled the planes from its schedule through early September.
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The FAA has not said how long it will take before OKing the jets for service. Last month, the agency said it was still evaluating Boeing’s modification to the 737 MAX’s software.
“The FAA is following a thorough process, not a prescribed time line, for returning the Boeing 737 MAX to passenger service,” the agency said in its announcement. “The FAA will lift the aircraft’s prohibition order when we deem it is safe to do so.”