First EETC issued on 787 aircraft; Qantas ditches Asian airline plans
9th March 2012
United Airlines has become the latest carrier looking to seek compensation from Boeing following the worldwide decision to ground 737 Max aircraft.
The aircraft has been grounded following the fatal crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302, which crashed shortly after take-off on the morning of March 10 from Addis Ababa airport killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members.
Since then, a worldwide grounding of all 737 Max jets has commenced with no word on when the aircraft is set to fly again.
Chief executive Oscar Munoz, said in a statement: "There will be recompense of some sort over time.
"The discussion of that is a bit early. Let's get that aircraft back to flight safely."
United has not disclosed the financial impact of the grounding, but recently extended its cancellation period for 37 flights until Aug 3.
Boeing is aiming for the 737 Max to be cleared soon, following a completion of its software update to the aircraft's manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) - which many have implicated as a factor in the fatal crashes which too place earlier this year.
United's decision to seek compensation follows hot on the heels of Shandong Airlines compensation claim as well as China Eastern Airlines and Turkish Airlines.