American Airlines Suspends Boeing 737 MAX Flights Until April

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) has extended the grounding period of its Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737 MAX jets through Apr 7, 2020, as talks pertaining to the approval for the MAX aircraft’s return to service continue between Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Pointing at several technicalities that need to be addressed, the FAA hinted at the completion of the process in 2020.

Following the extension of the MAX grounding period, American Airlines is expected to cancel approximately 140 flights per day through Apr 6, 2020. The carrier, which has 24 Boeing 737 MAX jets in its fleet, previously suspended the MAX flights through Mar 4, 2020. In October, the airline stated that its 2019 pre-tax income is likely to be hurt by approximately $540 million due to the flight cancellations from the groundings. Reduced capacity as a result of the groundings is weighing on the company’s costs.

On Dec 22, American Airlines plans to provide a flight schedule update for passengers booked on MAX flights through April 6.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

American Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same space are Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT) , Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:VLRS) . While Allegiant and Ryanair sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Controladora Vuela carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Allegiant, Ryanair and Controladora Vuela have rallied more than 73%, 22% and 99%, respectively, so far this year.

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