Southwest Nixes 737 Max Flights for Rest of 2019

Southwest Airlines has extended the removal of the 737 Max from its flight schedule through January 5, after receiving an estimate from Boeing of a fourth-quarter return to service of the grounded narrowbody. Southwest added that it would take between one and two months to prepare the Max for service following the lifting of the FAA’s order to ground the airplane to comply with any regulatory directives and perform any additional pilot training the agency might require.

As a result of the extended grounding of the Max, Southwest has lowered its capacity expectations by between 6 and 7 percent from its original plan for 2019, resulting in a one to 2 percent decline in available seat miles for the year. To mitigate the financial damage, the airline on Thursday announced it would end operations at Newark International Airport on November 3, labeling the base’s financial results as “below expectations.”

Nevertheless, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly called the company’s overall fiscal performance in the second quarter “remarkably strong” considering the Max grounding resulted in a $175 million reduction in operating revenue during the period.