American Airlines is cancelling 90 flights a day as Boeing 737 Max remains grounded
- American Airlines is cancelling 90 flights per day through April 24 as a result of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
- The airline, which had been flying 24 of the Boeing planes before they were grounded by the FAA, said in a statement the decision will avoid last minute flight cancellations.
American Airlines is cancelling 90 flights per day through April 24 as a result of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
The airline, which had been flying 24 of the Boeing planes, said the cancellations were being made in an effort to provide more certainty and avoid last minute flight disruptions.
"By proactively canceling these flights, we are able to provide better service to our customers with availability and rebooking options," American said in a statement.
American said it continues to await information from the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, National Transportation Safety Board, other regulatory authorities and Boeing that would permit the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in its fleet to resume flying.
The Boeing 737 Max was grounded by aviation authorities across the world, including the FAA, after two similar crashes in recent months that have implicated a flight software system on the plane known as MCAS.
The Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed on Mar. 10, killing all 157 aboard, and the Lion Air plane that went down in Indonesia on Oct. 29, which killed all 189 passengers and crew, were both 737 Max jets.
The two incidents have also led the Department of Transportation to ask for an audit of the Federal Aviation Administration's approval of the 737 Max 8 planes, while the FBI has reportedly joined in a criminal investigation of the certification process for the jets.
As regulators and lawmakers continue to investigate the plane, Garuda Indonesia became the first airline to attempt to cancel its order for 737 Max planes on Friday, a deal worth nearly $6 billion.
American's reservations team is contacting affected customers directly by email or telephone. "We know these cancellations and changes may affect some of our customers, and we are working to limit the impact to the smallest number of customers."