American Airlines extends flight cancelations through late April

American Airlines is extending flight cancellations for almost another month at least due to the ongoing grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

It will cancel an average of 90 flights a day through April 24, and all affected customers will be contacted directly by the airline.

American has 24 Boeing 737 Max aircraft in its fleet.

The planned cancellations are to ‘provide more certainty and to avoid last-minute flight disruptions,’ American said in a statement.

“We are working to limit the impact to the smallest number of customers.”

In contrast, Southwest Airlines is leaving it until five days prior, before deciding which flights to cancel.

With 34 Max aircraft in the fleet, Southwest expects to ground about 130 flights a day.

It has started moving the affected jets to an aircraft parking facility in Southern California to free up space at airports.

United Airlines has not scheduled any flights for its 14 MAX jets until April 9, and will likely soon extend that further.

Meanwhile, the US department of transportation is establishing a special committee to fully scrutinize how the FAA approves new aircraft models.

The findings and any recommendations will be passed to transportation secretary Elaine Chao and the new incoming FAA administrator.

source: Travel Mole
foto: CChuang/jetphotos.com