United Airlines Extends 737 MAX Flight Cancellation Period

United Continental Holdings, Inc.’s UAL subsidiary United Airlines has announced the extension of its Boeing 737 MAX flight cancellations through Aug 3, joining fellow industry players — Southwest Airlines Co LUV and American Airlines Group Inc AAL — which had already suspended the 737 MAX flights from their schedules until August. Accordingly, the carrier will make adjustments to its flight schedules to cater to customer needs during the busy summer season. Previously, the Chicago, IL-based airline announced grounding of the same through early July.

United Airlines, operating 14 737 MAX jets, will face around 2,400 flight cancellations in June and July due to the expanded flight suspension period. Ever since the 737 MAX aircraft’s grounding in mid-March, the carrier had to call off approximately 3,300 flights. These groundings followed two successive fatal air crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that resulted in the death of 346 passengers.

Per Reuters, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects the approval of 737 MAX jets’ return to service to happen by late June. However, the FAA did not come up with a specific date for the U.S. nod.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. Price

United Continental Holdings, Inc. price | United Continental Holdings, Inc. Quote

Meanwhile, Boeing is said to be fixing the software issue, which is believed to have triggered the deadly crashes. The company is anticipated to make a formal submission of its changes along with a proposal for additional pilot training to the FAA, soon for approval.

Zacks Rank & Key Pick

United Continental carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the same space is SkyWest, Inc. SKYW, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of SkyWest have surged more than 34% so far this year.

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