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American Airlines extends Boeing Max cancellations through Sept. 3

American Airlines Group Inc. has tacked two weeks onto the time the Boeing Co. 737 Max will remain off its flight schedule, as the aircraft nears the three-month month mark of global grounding after two fatal crashes.

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2011 file photo, an American Airlines symbol is displayed on the side of a luggage cart at LaGuardia Airport in New York. American Airlines says it's cutting the cost of checking oversized sporting gear and musical instruments on flights. American said Tuesday, May 21, 2019, that it eliminated the extra oversize charge for those items and instead will charge regular bag fees, which are lower. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2011 file photo, an American Airlines symbol is displayed on the side of a luggage cart at LaGuardia Airport in New York. American Airlines says it's cutting the cost of checking oversized sporting gear and musical instruments on flights. American said Tuesday, May 21, 2019, that it eliminated the extra oversize charge for those items and instead will charge regular bag fees, which are lower. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)Read moreSeth Wenig / AP
    by Mary Schlangenstein, Bloomberg
    Published 

American Airlines Group Inc. has tacked two weeks onto the time the Boeing Co. 737 Max will remain off its flight schedule, as the aircraft nears the three-month month mark of global grounding after two fatal crashes.

American will scrap about 115 daily flights as it extends the Max cancellations through Sept. 3 from Aug. 19, according to a statement from the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier. Southwest Airlines Co., the biggest Max operator, has set Aug. 5 for the Max to resume flights, while United Continental Holdings Inc. plans for Aug. 3.

Regulators must re-certify the plane before commercial flights can resume, but say there's no timeline for when that will happen.

Boeing is finalizing a software fix for a flight-control system malfunction linked to the accidents involving Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, as well as proposed new pilot training. A combined 346 people were killed in the crashes five months apart.

American "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 re-certification of the aircraft soon,"' the statement said. The planes were grounded worldwide on March 13.

Customers affected by the cancellations can be booked on other flights or can request a full refund.