American Airlines won’t put passengers on Boeing 737 Max airplanes until Sept. 3.
In April, the airline grounded its fleet of the troubled jets until Aug. 19 in the wake of two crashes involving the jet that left 346 people dead. Boeing blamed defects in flight control systems software for the crashes.
“In total, approximately 115 flights per day will be canceled through Sept. 3,” read a statement the company released Sunday. “Not all flights that were previously scheduled on a MAX will be canceled, as we plan to substitute other aircraft types.”
American has a fleet of 900 aircraft, of which 24 are 737 Max jets. Customers affected by the cancellations can get a full refund if they choose not to rebook.
Southwest and United Airlines have grounded their Max jets through August. Delta doesn’t have any 737 Max planes in its fleet and has avoided much of the controversy surrounding the aircraft.
“American Airlines remains confident that impending software updates to the Boeing 737 MAX, along with new training elements Boeing is developing in coordination with our union partners, will lead to recertification of the aircraft soon,” American said. “Our goal is to minimize the impact to the smallest number of customers.”
This decision comes after a Federal Aviation Administration report released June 2 revealed the Boeing planes may have also been manufactured with faulty parts on their wings.
