Now that the 737 Max has been recertified for commercial flights in the U.S., with Brazil, Canada and Europe not far behind, airlines are stepping up their planning to bring the jets back into their fleets.
American, which will start flying several flights a day with the plane between Miami and New York LaGuardia on December 29, is also flying a series of employee-only excursions to familiarize staff and to show the public confidence in the plane. The flights take off and leave from the same airport, with an hour or so in the air. The first was at Dallas on Thursday; the others are scheduled for Miami and LaGuardia over the next week or so.
United, meanwhile, has said its Max flights would start early in the New Year, with the planes assigned to its Denver and Houston hubs. Alaska will start flying the plane in March, followed by Southwest.
The AA flights employee flights may play a real role; surveys by Southwest have indicated that as many as 25% of passengers feel uneasy about the plane. A number of airlines have said they will waive fees for anyone wanting to switch off a Max flight, at least in the early days of the return.
Overseas, Ryanair has given Boeing a big boost by adding a new order for 75 of the planes, on top of the 135 already on order.
