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737 Max planes painted in liveries from the United States, Southwest and United stand outside the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, on November 18, 2020.
Jason Redmond / AFP via Getty Images)
Last week the Federal Aviation Administration lifted your 20-month grounding order in the Boeing 737 Max. Although the decision formally authorizes the airline to return to passenger service in the United States, airlines still have two steps to complete before they can resume Max flights: They must re-train pilots in simulators and perform FAA-required updates to the MCAS flight control system guilty for two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
Both steps will take time, but the three US airlines currently operating the 737 Max have already announced when they intend to add the aircraft back to their fleets. With Max passenger flights scheduled before the end of the year, American Airlines will be the first, followed by United and Southwest in early 2021 (Alaska Airlines ordered the plane and will begin receiving its plane next year).
For now at least, American, United and Southwest will allow passengers who do not want to fly in the Max to change flights without penalty. If you are nervous about flying the Max, your aircraft type will appear in the flight details when booking. It will usually appear under “Flight details”, which may require an additional click. Some airlines will spell the full name of the aircraft as “737 Max”, while other airlines may shorten it to “7M8”. If you are unsure, please contact a reservation agent to confirm.
American
American will resume 737 Max service on December 29 with a daily roundtrip flight between New York LaGuardia and Miami. After January 4, 2021, it will add more Max flights, “with up to 36 departures from our downtown Miami, depending on the day of the week.”
Maintenance crews will inspect each aircraft and pilots will take each Max aircraft on a test flight.
Pilots will be required to complete computer-based training, classroom briefings, and time in the simulator.
The airline says that customers who do not want to fly in the 737 Max will not have to. Instead, “we will provide flexibility to make sure they can be easily relocated.”
South west
The Max will return in the second quarter of 2021.
Southwest will perform maintenance checks on each Max aircraft, and its Flight Operations Team will conduct test flights with each aircraft multiple times.
All the airline’s pilots will undergo simulator training (Southwest says it now has nine 737 Max simulators) and full computer sessions of Max’s procedures and operations.
If you do not want to fly on one of the airline’s 737 Max 8 aircraft, you can rebook a flight on a 737-700 or 737-800 (older versions of the 737 that do not use MCAS and were never affected by grounding) without paying a fare difference (if the origin and destination cities are the same). But, the airline warns, the new flight could finally be in a Max 8 if Southwest changes equipment at the last minute. Alternatively, customers can get a full refund or credit for future travel depending on the type of ticket.
United
The Max will return in the first quarter of next year.
Test pilots will conduct multiple test flights of each of the airline’s 737 Max aircraft, and maintenance crews will conduct end-to-end reviews that include system checks and data readings.
Before passenger flights can resume, United 737 Max pilots will need to complete computer-based instruction, simulator, and review a manual with a systems briefing and checklist.
If you do not wish to fly on a Max aircraft, your reservation will be changed free of charge or you will receive a refund.
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