United pulls 737 Max from its schedule until early June

Source: CNBC

United Airlines is pulling the Boeing 737 MAX from its schedule through June 4, a date that is two months later than when other U.S. airlines plan to resume flights of the troubled planes.

By pushing the return of the MAX into June, United raises the question of whether U.S. carriers will have the Max in their fleets by the start of the summer travel season, the busiest period of the year for airlines.

Just last month, United said it would target bringing the Max back in early March. So why is it moving back that date another three months? Mainly because the carrier wants to give passengers more certainty when they are booking tickets for trips this spring and summer. In announcing the move, United said, “we’ll continue to take extraordinary steps to protect our customers’ travel plans.”

In the last week, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines both pushed their respective target dates for resuming 737 MAX flights into early April. If the current schedules hold, the total number of MAX cancellations since it was grounded last March will be just over 146,000 flights.

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