US airline United Airlines has suspended flights on Boeing 737 Max aircraft for another month. They are no longer in the flight schedule until 19 December.
All machines of this type must remain grounded after two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, with a total of 346 dead since mid-March. A controversial control software from Boeing is according to first accident reports as a possible cause of the accident suspected.
Boeing hopes to obtain until October the approval for an update of its flight control software from the US aviation authority FAA, the company said. However, it would then take another one to two months for the airlines to train their pilots accordingly and prepare the aircraft for commercial flights.
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For Boeing and the affected airlines, the flight stop is a heavy financial burden. The airlines had to cancel thousands of flights a month. United had withdrawn its 14 737 Max machines until the beginning of November. Originally a start was already planned for the beginning of September. The company now expects to cut 2,800 flights in November and another 1,700 by 19 December.
Other companies, such as Southwest Airlines or American Airlines, have taken their 737 Max aircraft out of the timetable until early January and early November, respectively.
Boeing is massively in the criticism - among other things because of the charge to have rushed the development of the new aircraft model because of high competitive pressure.
