More Boeing 737 Max Flights Canceled Through November, More Could Come Before The Holidays

More flights using the 737 Max have been canceled through the Fall, with the possibility of additional cancellations through the holiday season.

United Airlines officially announced Friday that it would be canceling any flights scheduled through November 3rd using the Boeing 737 Max. In total, nearly 5,000 United flights will be grounded between September and October with because of 14 of its 737s being grounded.

American Airlines wasn’t far behind, as the airline announced Monday that it would also be canceling flights through to Nov. 2. This means American will be canceling around 115 flights a day due to the groundings.

The cancellations come on the heels of the Federal Aviation Administration discovering the 737 Max had additional software problems in June. This is on top of the original problems uncovered in the planes following the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airline crashes in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Boeing had reported it fixed the original automated flight control problems uncovered after in March after all 737 flights were grounded by the FAA. However, test pilots then reported a new issue affecting the plane’s stabilizers. The new problem prompted more cancellations at the time and Boeing continuing working on the plane to fix the new problem.

The fear from some forecasters is that the new cancellations could affect flight prices and result in more cancellations deep into the holiday season.

“The grounding of the 737 Max has definitely caused some upset for some travelers,” economist Hayley Berg said. She also warned that prices for Holiday flights could be “higher than usual, given there's less competition on routes where airlines have pulled back capacity.”

She has recommended anyone traveling through United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, which also canceled 737 Max flights, should book them by early October for the best possible prices.