United Airlines is extending cancellations of flights on the Boeing 737 MAX, but still plans to resume service with the grounded aircraft before Christmas.
The Chicago-based carrier, whose parent company is United Airlines Holdings Inc., had planned to resume MAX flying in early November but is now targeting Dec. 19.
The MAX has been grounded by safety regulators since March in the wake of two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that claimed 346 lives.
Airlines have had to cull thousands of flights during what has been one of the busiest summer-travel seasons on record, and the disruption is set to continue into fall. United plans to cancel 9,500 flights from September to Dec. 19, by which time it expects the MAX to be cleared for carrying passengers.
United's fleet included 14 MAX jets at the time of their grounding, with more scheduled for delivery throughout the year.
Boeing has developed a fix for the software system implicated in both crashes, and has said it thinks the MAX can gain regulatory approval to resume service early in the fourth quarter.
The timeline is cutting it close for the holiday season, when a surge of travelers will descend on airports around the country. Cancelling MAX flights now helps airlines avoid having to scramble flight schedules if the aircraft stays grounded longer than expected. But it also means carriers will be less able to capitalize on high demand.
Some airlines have given up on the prospect of flying the MAX this year. Southwest Airlines Co. and Air Canada are keeping the plane out of their schedules until early January.
Once regulators allow the MAX to return, it could take upward of six weeks for airlines to install the new software, train pilots, and get their aircraft ready to fly again, Andrew Watterson, chief revenue officer at Southwest, said in an interview this week.
"That is quite a lag from the ungrounding order," he said.
Other carriers remain optimistic that they will be able to use the MAX to handle year-end holiday travel. American Airlines Group Inc. still aims to resume MAX flying in early November. Panama City-based carrier Copa Holdings SA has the plane on its schedules again beginning Dec. 15.
