Southwest, American, United: No Boeing 737 Max Flights Until March Even If Plane Returns Sooner
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United Airlines on Friday removed the grounded Boeing 737 Max from its flight schedule until early March, joining Southwest and American in taking another round of proactive steps to reduce last-minute flight cancellations if the plane’s return continues to be delayed.
United is removing the plane until March 4th. American last week took it out of its schedule until March 5th, Southwest until March 6th. All previously only had it out of the schedule through early February.
Travelers holding tickets for travel in February and early March will be notified if their flights have been changed and will have the option for rebooking or a refund, even if it’s a non-refundable ticket.
Since the plane was grounded in March following two fatal crashes in five months that killed 346 people, airlines have had to repeatedly shuffle their schedules to make do with fewer planes. Southwest had 34 Max planes in its schedule at the time of the grounding, American, 24 and United, 14.