Free changes now! (was: Southwest refusing to accommodate people who afraid of MAX8)
 

Roughly 1/3 of worldwide fleet is grounded due to safety concerns... and United is re-accommodating those with concerns who don't want to fly on it. Yet, at Southwest it's "pay the difference in fare or screw you."

Who would have thought United would have better customer service than Southwest?

Herb must be turning over in his grave...

People can disagree, but there are legitimate concerns about this aircraft. People shouldn't be forced to fly on it or forced to pay a penalty.

Talk about "nuts."

From what I'm seeing, 21.7% of the MAX's in service have been grounded (with about 90% of those being grounded by the Chinese government). That means that the air traffic regulators and management from another 35-40 airlines spread across the world are comfortable enough in their ability to fly the plane safely.

Inasmuch as the MAX makes up 4.5% of Southwest's fleet, you aren't being forced to fly on this aircraft. If you aren't comfortable flying on the plane, then you have the option to fly other routes that require a stop/plane change, fly at a different time, or maybe even on another airline whose plane type better suits your needs. Of course these other options may carry added costs...but how much do you value your safety and peace of mind?

I'm talking about the people who show up at the gate and see a MAX parked out front OR people who have already booked. Those are the ones that should be re-accommodated if they desire WITHOUT having to pay anything.

Is driving an option? But I'll go out on a limb and suggest the MAX is probably safer.

I wonder how many people at the gate could identify a MAX parked there if they saw one?

Also, I don't know if your doing this or not, but please don't denigrate the Chinese. Yes, I know lots of people out there are saying they made an essentially corrupt decision that had nothing to do with safety. However, the opposite could also be true: the FAA is making a corrupt decision by NOT grounding the planes in order to protect Boeing. Of course, nobody would argue the fine people in the Trump Administration are corrupt, or would sacrifice safety to satisfy America's largest exporter, now would they????

Look, if you want to put you and your kids on an airliner with two remarkably similar crashes in 4 or so months, and with a highly-controversial flight control system, then be my guest. All I'm saying is people should have a choice, and Southwest should be a good enough company to allow for that choice to occur without any sort of penalty or impediment.

You should be grateful they aren't charging a change fee! If you are so concerned, pay the difference in fare. Southwest is already extremely loose when it comes to allowing changes, etc. They give every customer the choice to change their flight for free regardless of what airplane crashes and when. However they aren't going to put you on a more expensive routing for free.

There is no way I would board a MAX and no way I would send a family member on one. If it costs more, it costs more. That may change as information becomes available. But, for the moment, the decision is simple.

I would think if WN allows these changes then they are acknowledging there's a problem. Their position is that there is no problem, i think. I haven't read much actual news about it other than what's being posted on the forums.

It's being reported on some other message boards that they are now allowing no-charge changes off the MAX (and that United has quietly grounded theirs). Can anyone confirm?

I’d fly in a Max plane, certainly. I might think twice about sending family members. The chances of a problem are rather miniscule. And now Boeing will be under great pressure to come up with a good solution.

I know AA grounded some of theirs to fix an issue with the overhead bins. The airlines can't really make a decision as to whether these aircraft are able to fly until the FAA or Boeing release more information about the recent (2) crashes.

Who is "they"?

There are 7 UA Max 9's in the air right now...

I just heard from an industry source (pilot) that WN, AA, and UA have just voluntarily grounded their MAX fleets. Cannot confirm independently.

EDIT 945pm ET: Obviously this was not publicly confirmed Monday.

If there was a legitimate concern, then the FAA would have grounded the plane type.

But nobody is being forced to fly on any particular airfcraft [unless, perhaps, when a passenger is being deported!]. I have seen passengers being removed from flights, but I have never seen any passenger being forced onto a plane.

We should be grateful to them for adhering to their own T&Cs?

Previously very few, now probably everybody.

I have four flights in the next month on MAX. Southwest better let me change it or I will make sure everyone at the gate area know that the flight is 737MAX that's crashed twice in Asia. WN can't possibly let this go on. It's none of my concern that Boeing, Southwest, and the FAA look bad because the Chinese acted first. Whether the Chinese acted due to politics or genuine concern for passengers doesn't matter to me either. I don't want to fly on 737MAX anymore and I will not be charged extra for changing flights.

From SW fleet stats, it appears that all of SW MAX8 planes have tail numbers starting with N87, as in N87xxx. Knowing nothing about how these numbers are assigned, I don't know whether other types of SW planes might also carry the same starting numbers. Of course, making a travel determination based on the tail number of the plane you are waiting to board is truly waiting until the last minute.

This is 100% false. 3 clicks on FlightAware will show you that WN, AA, UA and many others have MAX planes in the air right now. https://flightaware.com/live/aircrafttype/B38M and https://flightaware.com/live/aircrafttype/B39M

You think you're going to blackmail Southwest into letting you change for free? If the flights are within the next month, then you have ample time to re-book your flight. There's also a greater than zero chance that one or more of your flights gets switched to a different model. Good luck with your plan though!

AA did not ground any MAX aircraft. The 14 737s that are grounded are of the 737-800 variety.

Since when is Ethiopia in Asia?

According to FlightAware, WN has only cancelled 92 flights today.....

By this time on Saturday, they had already cancelled 143 flights.

They are actually running better today than Saturday...although they still have the highest number of flights cancelled in the US by far.

United has cancelled 6 flights today in comparison.

If they ground the 737Max, Southwest's existing 'operational issues' are going to compound.

What do you want them to do, shoot them down? They can be taken out of service on arrival at next station, or at the end of their duty day. There is heavy pressure from US airline labor groups to follow China's lead.

As others have pointed out, planes change schedule often. So it will be playing Russian roulette to see if you get switched to MAX.

Southwest should do what is right. At minimum, until the MAX is cleared they should limit passengers on the MAX to those people with Emotional Support Animals.

CNN.com is not showing that WN has grounded any. Article was update at 1pm ET.

Links showing otherwise?

Isn't there more than one MAX? I thought the MAX-8 is the model that crashed twice. WN also flies the MAX-7, I think United flies the MAX-9. Does anybody know if there is a difference?

Regardless of whether WN believes the pilots are properly able to safely handle the issue, it is probably best for them to ground the fleet now for other reasons.

A) Public image
B) Load issues with pax refusing to fly
C) Labor issues with crew unwilling to fly (real or an anti-management tactic).

Grounding then is not much of a loss, if any. The load factors system wide will go up and significantly offset the slight drop in RPM.

LOL - what source?

None of the US airlines have announced any sort of grounding.

According to planespotters.net, there have only been 2 of the -700s delivered. There have been 29 of the -900s delivered:

https://www.planespotters.net/produc.../737/737-MAX-9

Not sure how current that data is.

The MAX is a new line or generation of the Boeing 737. There are currently 2 models in commercial service, the MAX 8 and MAX 9 (with the first MAX 7 I believe scheduled to be delivered later this year). WN only currently flies the MAX 8. It does not fly the MAX 7 yet, but has several ordered, which will likely be delivered later this year. (From a passenger perspective, the major difference is in passenger capacity - the MAX 7 has a couple fewer rows of seats than the MAX 8; the MAX 9 has a couple more).

The previous line was the 737 Next Gen, or 737 NG, and includes the 737-600/700/800/900. Of these, WN currently flies the 737-800 and 737-700.

The 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 are two different planes. However, WN has them configured to have the same number of seats, and sometimes swaps them for each other in IRROPS, mechanical delays, or other times when they need to swap out a plane.