American Airlines has decided to remove even more of its Boeing 737 Max aircraft fleet from its flight schedule through Sept. 3. The move may be a suggestion that recertifying the grounded fleet is going much more slowly than the company was hoping for.

This means American Airlines is going to cancel about 115 flights a day through Labor Day, which is considered the unofficial end to summer travels. The airline had removed 24 of its 737 Max from the schedule until Aug. 19.

American Airlines released a statement Sunday saying it’s still confident that the 737 Max software updates would help with the problems the fleet as had as well as the new training tools Boeing has come up with in conjunction with pilot unions. All this in an effort to recertify the aircraft.

According to AA, the airline has been working with DOT, FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board along with other regulator officials to bring the 737 Max back into compliance.

American Airlines was one of the first three U.S. operators to remove the fleet from its summer travel season. United, which has 14 Max planes was removing them through Aug. 3. Southwest, which has 34 Max planes, eliminated the fleet from its schedule until Aug. 5.

The 737 Max line were grounded around the world after the fatal crash of Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 on March 10. It was the second crash of the fleet – the first happening in October. A total of 346 people were killed in the accidents.

Boeing has been working on a software update for the plane and has suggested changes to its pilot-training procedures.

This World Brief was written by Susan Powell exclusively for World Footprints.

Source:  Travel Weekly

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