United Airlines will extend flight cancellations through August 3 as its 14 Boeing 737 Max flights remain grounded.
The move will result in 2,400 total cancellations in June and July, and comes only a day after the FAA’s acting head said airlines don’t need to keep canceling Max flights.
The FAA has no timetable for re-certifying the Max.
United Airlines will take its 14 Boeing 737 Max jets off its schedule for another month, through Aug. 3, cancelling another 1,290 flights as the plane remains grounded.
The move comes a day after the Federal Aviation Administration’s acting head said airlines didn’t need to extend flight cancellations for Max flights. The FAA hasn’t said when it thinks the Max will return to flight.
United joins other major airlines like American and Southwest, who have canceled thousands of flights during the busy summer travel season and removed the Max from schedules through August. United alone has canceled at least 3,300 flights since the plane was grounded in mid-March.
Investigators believe the jet’s MCAS flight control system, which automatically pushes the plane’s nose down to prevent a stall, was implicated in two fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia that killed 346 people combined.
Since the grounding in mid-March, Boeing said it completed its software fix, but has yet to validate it through a re-certification flight nor file it for official re-certification.
United CEO Oscar Munoz said this week that he plans to fly on the first 737 Max flight when the plane is put back in service. United has also said it would rebook passengers who don’t want to fly on the Max jets.
Other major airline executives have committed to Boeing and pledged to help restore public confidence in the jets after re-certification.
