United Airlines has become the first U.S. carrier to pull its use of the troubled Boeing 737 MAX jets until early June, the carrier said on Friday.
Previously, American and Southwest had announced cancellations involving the aircraft through March and April.
But United’s announcement represents the longest that any airline is making schedules without the use of the grounded 737 MAX – a troubling development for Boeing, which was hoping for re-certification for the plane by early 2020.
As Reuters first reported, the decision follows comments from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that it still has nearly a dozen steps to complete before approving the jets for flight.
The entire fleet of 737 MAX aircraft was grounded after two fatal crashes within months of each other killed 346 passengers and crew. Boeing said last week it was suspending production of the plane in January…
