With no firm end in sight to 737 Max grounding, American cancels flights until Sept. 3

While Boeing says it is making progress on getting its fix for its troubled 737 Max aircraft approved, the company is no longer giving public estimates as to when the actual approval will be granted. Officials at Boeing say the technical fix is relatively simple, but the company must now provide additional information to address FAA requests that includes detail on how pilots interact with the airplane’s controls and displays in different flight scenarios. The question of how much additional pilot training will be needed must also be addressed. Once Boeing gets the nod from the FAA, it must then get approval from more than 30 other airline regulators around the globe.

With no firm end to the grounding in sight, American Airlines has pushed back its restart of 737 Max flights until Sept. 3. Until then, approximately 115 flights per day will continue to be canceled as a result of the mandatory grounding. Southwest and United also have 737 Max aircrafts in their fleets but to date have only altered their schedules through early August. It is expected that they will also extend their modified schedules if no concrete restart dates are released by Boeing.

Canada to implement passenger protection rules and regulations

Similar to airline passenger protection rules in place in Europe, The Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) has finalized new rules including flight disruption compensation regulation. These require airlines operating in Canada to provide compensation to travelers who have to wait at the airport for hours due to delays or are bumped from flights due to overbooking.

The new rules will be rolled out in two phases. The first part will be implemented on July 15 and mandates that airlines regularly update their passengers regarding flight information while providing compensation for bumping passengers or for losing their luggage. Passenger rights must be communicated and basic standards of treatment must be followed, such as allowing customers to leave the plane under certain conditions when flights are delayed for three hours or more.

Phase two will go into effect on Dec. 15 and will require airlines to rebook or refund passengers when flight delays and cancellations occur. Airlines must provide food and drink during extended delays. Passengers will also be entitled to compensation up to $1,000 under certain circumstances.