Airlines Extending Max 8 Cancellations Once Again

American Airlines, in a not so surprising move, has announced the continued delay of its fleet of Boeing 737 Max jets until December 3. The airline remains confident that the Max jets will fly again and is extending the grounding of this fleet from its previous estimates of November 2 to the following month and still in time for the holiday travel rush.

“Software updates to the Boeing 737 MAX, along with the new training elements Boeing is developing will lead to recertification of the aircraft this year,” the legacy carrier released in a statement Sunday. “We are in continuous contact with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and other regulatory authorities.”

The airline’s reservations team will contact affected customers directly by email or telephone (or through their booking agent) should their scheduled flight be affected.

In total, approximately 140 flights per day will be canceled through Dec. 3. That tally is up from 115 flights a day that had been targeted for cancellation during the previous grounding period.

In similar moves United Airlines made the decision Friday to cancel 90 daily flights due to the 737 Max until December 19. Southwest, having the largest number of  737 Max planes in its fleet announced the cancellation of some 180 daily flights through January 5.

Boeing is expected to have its Max 8 software issues solved to the satisfaction of the Federal Aviation Administration by early this fall, but will still take time to train pilots on the new software and prepare planes for commercial flight operations.

** Find more on Boeing Max 8 aircraft HERE