American Airlines is suspending its first route because of the 737 Max grounding
- American Airlines has suspended its Oakland-Dallas/Fort Worth flight from July 6 to September 4.
- The airline has cancelled 115 daily flights due to the 737 Max grounding, covering other routes with different aircraft, this is the first time it's had to suspend an entire route.
- Passengers traveling between the two cities can connect in Phoenix, or take a direct flight to Dallas/Fort Worth from nearby San Francisco or San Jose.
For the first time since the Boeing 737 Max aircraft was grounded world-wide, American Airlines has suspended a route as a direct cause of the dormant planes.
The airline will suspend flights between Oakland and Dallas/Fort Worth from July 6 to September 4 due to the Max grounding, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed to Business Insider.
Although American's Oakland-Dallas/Fort Worth flight is operated by a 737-800, a different version of the 737 airframe that is not affect by the grounding, the fact that American's 24 737 Max aircraft are unable to fly means that the airline has had to be strategic with its other aircraft to ensure full coverage.
"A flight that was not scheduled as a MAX flight might be canceled to enable our team to cover a MAX route with a different aircraft, said the American spokesperson. "Our goal is to minimize the impact to the smallest number of customers."
American has cancelled around 115 individual daily flights due to the unavailability of the Max, according to the spokesperson, but this is the first time that the airline has completely suspended a route.
American has extended those cancellations several times as the Max grounding continues, currently through September 3. However, the Max is forecast to remain grounded through at least this fall.
American has three to four daily flights from Oakland. Passengers seeking to travel from the city to Dallas/Fort Worth can either connect in Phoenix, or take a direct flight from nearby San Francisco or San Jose.