American Airlines on Thursday decided to pull Boeing 737 Max jets from its schedules until April 7, marking the longest pull-out yet made by any airline previously flying the grounded planes.
According to CNBC, industry experts noted that American's latest move is yet another the signal that the global airline's industry remains uncertain about when the jets will be allowed to fly again.
Other airlines have yet to announce whether they will follow suit in American Airlines' move, considering that many airlines with Boeing 737 Max fleets have already lost millions ever since the planes were grounded in March.
The bigger problem is many airlines were expecting to get their fleets delivered over the past few months. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has yet to recertify the planes in question.
The jets were grounded in March following two crashes within a span of five months. Both crashes took the lives of 346 people, including the pilots. Since then, Boeing was put under the spotlight, with the victims' families calling for more action in blocking the jets from getting recertified.
Amid the ensuing backlash, Boeing will reportedly delay its original plans to hit a record production rate of 57 jets monthly in 2020. The delay in ramping up production of 737 Max jets is yet another confirmation that the FAA will not recertify the planes in question until next year.
According to Reuters, sources with knowledge of the matter further revealed that the U.S. jet maker already decided to push back initial plans to speed up its the current rate of 42 months per jets to 46 for the next four months.
On Thursday, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg spoke with FAA chief Steve Dickson regarding the potential flight of the grounded jets. In an email seen by Reuters, Dickson reportedly expressed concerns about the world's biggest airplane maker pushing for flight recertification that is "not realistic."
Earlier in April, the company decided to cut its production of the troubled jets from 52 to 42, a month after the Ethiopian Airlines crash. Muilenburg said in October that the company is expecting to maintain the new production rate and push for 57 on a monthly basis by the last a quarter of next year.
A new survey released on Thursday indicated that many passengers are hesitant to ride Boeing 737 Max jets. The news could be bad for airlines around the world once the FAA recertifies the planes.
It remains to be seen how the recent developments will affect Boeing's business as well as that of airlines expecting to get their new fleets delivered within the next few months.
