By Alison Sider 

United Airlines Holdings Inc. said it won't fly Boeing Co.'s 737 MAX until June, the latest setback to efforts to get the aircraft flying again after two fatal crashes.

The MAX's return to service has become more uncertain and airlines' confidence that the aircraft will be ready to return to flight soon is eroding. United said Friday that it would pull the MAX from its schedules until June 4, after previously anticipating resuming flights in March of next year.

Southwest Airlines Co. and American Airlines Group Inc. plan to have the MAX back in service in April.

United's move raises the prospect that carriers could face a second summer travel season without their newest and most fuel-efficient aircraft. The MAX has been grounded since March after two of the jets crashed within five months, killing 346 people.

Boeing this week said it would pause production of the jet after regulators told the aerospace giant that it had been setting unrealistic expectations for the timing of the plane's return. Airline, government and other industry officials don't expect that approval to come until February at the earliest.

Boeing's original production plan envisioned more than 1,000 MAX jets would be operating by June, leaving a big gap in the global fleet of around 20,000 large commercial aircraft.

The grounding has stretched on longer than most carriers anticipated, forcing airlines to remake schedules month after month and cancel thousands of flights. The carrier said it would have to cancel some 11,520 flights due to the MAX's absence next year, including the latest delay. United had 14 MAX jets in its fleet at the time of the grounding. The Chicago-based carrier expected to have 30 by the end of this year and to receive another 28 in 2020.

Airlines have said that after the MAX is cleared to fly, it will take as long as two months to train pilots and get their aircraft ready to fly again. United has said it is considering whether to require pilots to undergo training in simulators before resuming flights even if the FAA doesn't mandate it. The FAA hasn't determined whether to mandate simulator training.

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 20, 2019 12:16 ET (17:16 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Fev 2024 até Mar 2024 Click aqui para mais gráficos American Airlines.
American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Mar 2023 até Mar 2024 Click aqui para mais gráficos American Airlines.