NEW YORK: Southwest Airlines on Thursday became the first US carrier to give up on seeing the Boeing 737 MAX return to the skies this year, as the worldwide grounding of the top-selling aircraft has dented results for two major airlines.
On Wednesday, Boeing said it could temporarily halt production of the MAX if the grounding drags out much longer.American reported an 18.9 percent jump in second-quarter profits to $662 million, as total revenues rose 2.7 percent to $12 billion. Executives said they are in close contact with the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, and unlike Southwest still believe the plane will be ready to fly by November 2."We remain confident in the aircraft and look forward to reintegrating the aircraft into our fleet once it is cleared by regulators," American chief financial officer Derek Kerr said.
Southwest now plans to resume flights on the MAX on January 5, more than two months later than previously expected. The airline said it could take up to two months to resume flights once the plane is cleared by regulators because of FAA directives, including pilot training.