CHICAGO — United Airlines won’t use the Boeing 737 Max at all this summer, while American Airlines is still holding out hope for a late August return.
United said Friday that it has taken the Max out of its schedule until at least Sept. 4. American followed that by yanking the grounded plane out of its schedule until Aug. 18. Both airlines expect to drop thousands of flights a month as a result.
The result could be higher fares during the peak summer travel season.
Boeing is taking longer than expected to fix the planes after two crashes killed 346 people.
Last month, Boeing posted its first annual loss since 1997 as it struggled to handle the grounding of the 737 Max. The company lost $1 billion in the fourth quarter and revenue plunged 37%.
For all of 2019, the company lost $636 million.
The Max was Boeing's best-selling plane until being grounded worldwide after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The company has set aside billions to compensate airlines affected by the grounding.
