The Boeing 737 Max Finally Returns to the Skies with an American Airlines Flight

Airline carrier American Airlines has welcomed the Boeing 737 Max jet to the skies this week.

On Tuesday the plane made its flying debut after being grounded almost two years ago after two deadly crashes.

American Flight 718 departed Miami International Airport around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday and landed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport at 1:10 p.m.

The company said the flight was mostly full and that airline President Robert Isom was among the passengers.

Daily round-trip flights between Miami and New York are the start of American’s plans to gradually return the MAX to service.

According to David Seymour, American’s chief operating officer, gradually reintroducing the MAX would help build customer confidence and give passengers flexibility if they initially prefer to fly on other aircraft.

“We would have never brought the aircraft back if they were not comfortable,” he said in an interview not long ago about the pilots and flight attendants.

American Airlines has also said this week that it is expecting capacity cuts to continue all the way through February and is expecting to fly less than half of 2019 schedule through the month as coronavirus continues to spread.

Isom expects the impact of the coronavirus pandemic to continue to weigh on demand and schedules into 2021.

Isom told reporters at Miami International Airport that the airline is flying about 45% of its 2019 schedule this month, making the remarks ahead of the company’s debut of the Boeing 737 Max’s first U.S. flight with commercial passengers since it was grounded nearly two years ago.

“We anticipate that’s something that will carry on into January and February. We are hopeful that the vaccine will show some promise,” said Isom.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.