American Airlines now expects the grounding of the Boeing
737 Max to cost it $540 million in 2019, while Southwest said the grounding had
already cost the carrier $435 million through Sept. 30.
The companies provided the figures as they released third-quarter earnings Thursday. American, which was operating 24 Max planes at the
time of the grounding in March and has 76 more on order, says the directive
forced it to cancel 9,475 flights during the third quarter. American has
removed the Max from its schedule through Jan. 15.
Southwest was operating 34 Max jets at the time of the
grounding and had planned to take delivery of 41 more this year. Instead, the
carrier has already removed the Max from its schedule through Feb. 8. The
absence of those aircraft resulted in Southwest having 2.9% less capacity year over
year during the third quarter.
"The FAA will determine the timing of Max return to service,
and we offer no assurances that current estimations and timelines are correct,"
the carrier said Thursday. Southwest reiterated that it is in discussions with
Boeing for compensation.
Despite the drag caused by the Max grounding, Southwest
produced operating revenue of $5.6 billion during the third quarter, up 1.1%
from 2018. The company's net income for the quarter jumped 7.2%, to $659
million. Southwest's operating margin in the third quarter was 14.5%.
American reported third quarter revenue of $11.91 billion, a
3% increase. The company's net income of $425 million was up 14.2% from 2018.
American had an operating margin of 4.7%.
American, which struggled operationally over the summer due
to the Max grounding and to a dispute with its mechanics union, said that its
on-time performance in September was its best in almost two years. American
recorded an on-time performance of 85.2% in September, according to Flightstats.
The DOT defines on-time flights as those that arrive within 14 minutes of
schedule.