American Airlines has extended flight cancellations involving the grounded Boeing 737 Max aircraft through June. The airline, which has 24 737 Maxes in its fleet, says that it is continuing to await information from regulatory authorities regarding the aircraft, and that the extended cancellations will “provide more certainty and avoid last minute flight disruptions.”
American said that approximately 90 additional flights per day will be cancelled through June 5, and that its reservations team will contact affected customers directly via email or phone. Customers should note that not all flights that had been previously scheduled on a 737 Max will be canceled, as the airline will attempt to substitute other aircraft types.
If a flight is canceled and a customer chooses not to be rebooked, they can request a full refund by visiting aa.com/refunds.
The 737 Max had been grounded in a number of countries and regions, including Mexico, the European Union and the United States following the tragic crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max flight, just months after a 737 Max operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed under similar circumstances.
In the latest update on the investigation, ABC News reports that a preliminary report from the Ethiopian Ministry of Transport has found that the Ethiopian Airlines plane began nose diving in clear skies minutes after takeoff. Black box data suggests that one of the plane’s angle-of-attack sensors began fluctuating after takeoff, sending erroneous information and activating the aircraft’s new anti-stall safety system, which is believed to have pushed the nose of the aircraft down.
A number of other airlines have been forced to reshuffle operations to account for the grounded aircraft, including Southwest Airlines, Norwegian and others.
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