United Airlines pulls grounded Boeing 737 Max from schedules through June
Oscar Munoz steps down as CEO, but will remain at United as executive chairman of the board .
United Airlines, one of three U.S. carriers that flew Boeing's 737 Max, has pulled the grounded aircraft from its schedules through June.
The new timetable is the most pessimistic to date from customers that also include American and Southwest airlines. Boeing recently halted production of the single-aisle jetliner, involved in two crashes that killed 346 people, which it hasn't been able to deliver to customers since March.
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The best-selling model in Boeing's history, the Max is the latest version of an airliner introduced in 1967 and was designed at a time when jet fuel prices were spiking to be more fuel-efficient than its predecessors. Deliveries of the planes didn't start until mid-2017, and only about 70 were flown by U.S. carriers when the Federal Aviation Administration told airlines not to use them while a fix for anti-stall software linked to both crashes was developed.
"Pushing our timeline back to early June is what is best for our customers and our operation," said Frank Benenati, a spokesman for Chicago-based United. By moving the return-to-service date back more than just a month -- as we have done previously throughout 2019 -- it allows us to have more certainty by providing our customers and our operation a firmer and more definitive timeline."