United has removed the B737 Max aircraft from its schedules until the middle of next year, as uncertainty continues regarding the return of the Boeing aircraft into service.
According to a report by Reuters, the carrier has extended the cancellation of B737 Max flights up until June 4, 2020. Spokesperson Frank Benenati is quoted as saying:
“With the Max return to service date still unknown, pushing our timeline back to early June is what is best for our customers and our operation. By moving the return to service date back more than just a month – as we have done previously throughout 2019 – it allows us to have more certainty by providing our customers and our operation a firmer and more definitive timeline.”
All Boeing Max aircraft have been grounded worldwide since mid-March of this year, following two fatal crashes involving the jets.
Earlier this month Boeing confirmed it would temporarily halt production of the B737 Max in January, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said its review of the jets would continue into 2020.
Reuters reported comments from the FAA stating that the administration still has “nearly a dozen steps to complete before approving the jets for flight”, with officials now not expecting flights to resume until February 2020 at the earliest.
Earlier this month it was reported that Boeing had agreed to pay US carrier Southwest Airlines $125 million in compensation for financial losses caused by the groundings.
