Southwest Plans on Taking 737 MAX 8 Aircraft Out of Schedule Again, But Not Yet


southwest 737 max
737 MAX 8 aircrafts grounded (Photo by Ralph Freso, Getty Images)
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Just earlier this week I posted that Southwest proactively canceled all flights operated by the 737 MAX 8 aircraft. This impacted all flights through Nov. 2 and all passengers affected were able to go ahead and change their flight for no cost. (Or receive a full reimbursement if another option didn’t work out).

Then a few days later, Southwest announced that they were leaving Newark Airport and they would actually pull the 737 MAX 8 aircraft out of service through Jan. 5, 2019 (instead of the previously announced Nov. 2nd date). Since it is still unknown when Boeing will resolve their issues, it is a smart move on Southwest’s part. This means that customers can make alternative plans far in advance and not be stuck last minute (something that happened to many back in April).

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Although their statement states January 5th, if you are playing around on the Southwest site, you’ll see that there are still many routes operating the 737 MAX 8 between Nov. 3rd and Jan 5th. I reached out to Southwest regarding this as it does not align with their announcement at all. As of today, the 737 MAX 8 aircrafts are still very much so in service.

a screenshot of a social media post

This means, Southwest passengers can still book a flight on this aircraft (without realizing it) and receive a cancelation email at some point within the next few weeks. If you want to ensure you are not affected by a cancelation, make sure to see which aircraft is operating the flight you are going to book.

When you are booking a flight, click the blue flight number and a pop up window will appear. You’ll then be able to see the scheduled aircraft. If you already have a flight booked and want to see the scheduled aircraft, go make a mock reservation for the same flight routing and see if you will be impacted.

a screenshot of a flight schedule

To avoid being impacted, I suggest booking a flight that is not currently scheduled by the 737 MAX 8 aircraft. Although there is always the chance they might be able to swap the aircraft instead and not actually cancel the flight.

I was not given any timing from Southwest on when they will actually take the aircraft out of service and cancel impacted flights, but I assume it will be within the next few weeks.

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Andrew
Andrew
4 years ago

What is a 787 Max.

Frank Doyle
Frank Doyle
4 years ago

787 max 8? Is it really that hard to get THAT right?!

tim
tim
4 years ago

i think you mean 737

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