Boeing faces a wave of flight cancelations by US airlines and pressure from President Donald Trump to rebrand its top-selling 737 MAX aircraft, a month after the plane was grounded worldwide in the wake of deadly crashes. American and Southwest Airlines say the grounding will disrupt scheduled flights through the summer, during the peak travel season which helps generate corporate profits. American is canceling all 737 MAX flights through August 19 while Southwest, which owns the largest 737 MAX fleet, with 34 planes, is canceling them until August 5. United Airlines, which also ordered the 737 MAX 9, did not respond to an AFP query. In all, an average of 275 flights a day will be canceled, which are likely to put a dent in airline profits and could cause the companies to raise airfares. American already cut a key industry revenue metric -- Total Revenue per Available Seat-Mile, or TRASM -- saying it will rise one percent in 2019, down from a prior estimate of two percent. Southwest is … [Read more...] about Boeing under pressure amid canceled flights, Trump tweets
Southwest canceled flights
American Airlines refused to let a passenger board his flight despite him getting to the gate in time – and then the aircraft left EARLY
A PASSENGER who arrived at the airport in plenty of time ended up missing his flight after the plane took off ahead of schedule. Utah-based musician Matt Mascarenas was travelling from Manchester Airport to Philadelphia last month on a 10:05am American Airlines flight. He told The Northern Quota that he arrived at the airport at 7:30am before getting to his gate at around 9.35am after browsing duty free shops. Despite getting to the gate 30 minutes before his flight was scheduled to depart, Matt explained how the gate agent snapped "it's too late" and he wasn't allowed to board the flight. The flight, which was scheduled to leave at 10.05am, actually departed at 9:43am - 22 minutes early. An American Airlines representative told the NQ that they have a "30 minute cut off" to ensure passengers keep their flight seats, which was why he was denied boarding. However, the rules on the airline's website state: "Most flights start boarding 30 - 50 minutes before scheduled departure." If … [Read more...] about American Airlines refused to let a passenger board his flight despite him getting to the gate in time – and then the aircraft left EARLY
Flights in America grounded with Southwest and Delta planes delayed
Flights across America have been grounded after nationwide technical issues. Southwest and Delta airlines tweeted early Monday that flights across the country are experiencing delays due to technical difficulties. Delta airlines tweeted: "We are currently experiencing a System-Wide Outage we are working diligently to get it back up and running. We do not have a specific time as yet." Southwest said on Twitter: "It's affecting our flights system wide, and we're working to see if it's affecting any other carriers this morning as well. "In the meantime, once more information has been made available our Agents at the airport will be happy to disseminate it to y'all." Both airlines are the largest carriers at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Delta and Southwest combined make up around 90% of traffic at the airport. United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Alaska Airlines are affected, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, reports AJC. Many passengers have … [Read more...] about Flights in America grounded with Southwest and Delta planes delayed
Southwest Airlines canceled 9,400 flights in 6 weeks, more to come
Dawn Gilbertson USA TODAY Published 12:33 PM EDT Mar 27, 2019 Southwest Airlines' operations have been a mess since mid-February and the airline on Wednesday tallied the damage: 9,400 flight cancellations and counting. That's equivalent to canceling all of its flights for nearly two and a half days. Put another way, the total approaches the combined number of flight cancellations on Southwest's 20 single worst days for cancellations since 2011, according to flight tracker FlightAware. The nation's largest domestic carrier blamed the unprecedented flight cancellations on a trio of problems: winter weather, a high-profile labor dispute with its mechanics' union and the recent FAA grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 8. Southwest broke down the 9,400 cancellations this way: 3,800 due to weather, 2,800 due to a spike in airline maintenance write ups during the labor dispute and 2,800 from the Max 8 grounding. In a regulatory filing, the airline said it is taking a big … [Read more...] about Southwest Airlines canceled 9,400 flights in 6 weeks, more to come
Southwest cuts sales outlook as 737 MAX grounding hits US carriers
Southwest Airlines trimmed its revenue estimate Wednesday, citing flight cancellations due to the Boeing 737 MAX grounding among key factors dragging on earnings. Southwest, which focuses primarily on travel within the United States, cancelled 9,400 flights in the first quarter, with the Boeing grounding accounting for about a third of that number, the company said in a securities filing. The disclosure highlighted the hit from the Boeing debacle to US airlines following a Federal Aviation Administration order on March 13 after two deadly crashes involving the aircraft. Larger carriers American Airlines and United Continental have also signaled a likely hit to first-quarter earnings resulting from cancelled 737 MAX flights. About 40 percent of Southwest's flights were cancelled due to weather, with the remaining 30 percent resulting from maintenance disruptions connected to talks with a mechanics union. In total, these cancelations will result in $150 million in lost revenues in the … [Read more...] about Southwest cuts sales outlook as 737 MAX grounding hits US carriers