American Airlines has cancelled all scheduled flights with Boeing 737 MAX jets through September 3, extending the grounding of its fleet after two crashes involving the same aircraft model killed 346 people. The airline had previously cancelled all 737 MAX flights through August 19 as it awaited recertification of the aircraft in the wake of the crashes.
In a statement, it said it "remains confident that impending software updates to the Boeing 737 MAX, along with the new training elements Boeing is developing in coordination with our union partners, will lead to recertification of the aircraft soon." The extension means that American Airlines will have cancelled 115 flights since grounding its 14 737 MAX aircraft. It said it extended the timeframe to allow its clients and crews "to more reliably plan their upcoming travel."