American Airlines extends Boeing 737 MAX flight cancellations

American Airlines on Sunday said it will extend flight cancellation through April 24 because of the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX after two fatal crashes since October and cut some additional flights.

American, the largest U.S. carrier, said it is canceling about 90 flights a day.

American is the second-largest U.S. operator of the MAX in the U.S. with 24 jets, behind Southwest Airlines with 34.

American said earlier this month it was flying about 85 flights a day out of its 6,700 daily departures on 737 MAX planes when the grounded was announced.

The airline said it was making the announcement “to provide more certainty to our customers and team members and better protect our customers on other flights to their final destination.”

Boeing Co is expected as early as Monday to formally disclose a planned upgrade to its anti-stall system to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that has been in the works since October’s Lion Air crash but still needs approval from U.S. regulators.

The FAA has said it plans to mandate the upgrade by April, however, it is still not clear if the upgrade will address any issues after the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash.

On Saturday, Reuters reported American, Southwest and United Airlines were all meeting with Boeing this weekend to review the software upgrade.

The FAA said earlier the “design changes” would result in flight control system enhancements that will provide “reduced reliance on procedures associated with required pilot memory items.”

On Thursday, Reuters reported the upgrade would include a previously optional warning light.

Many airlines, including American, already had the optional light. (Reuters/NAN)