United Airlines trims growth plan for 2019

The grounding of its Boeing 737 Max jets is causing United Airlines to trim growth plans for this year, and the carrier expects to discuss potential compensation with Boeing. United claims to be managing the grounding relatively well by pressing spare jets into duty and delaying discretionary maintenance work on other planes. That approach, however, comes with extra costs - sometimes the airline uses bigger and less fuel-efficient 2-aisle jets to replace the missing single-aisle Max on domestic routes. Max planes account for 1.4% of United's passenger-carrying capacity. Uncertain how long the planes will be lost, United cut its planned 2019 growth from about 5% to 4.5% heading into the crucial summer travel season. Executives said they are covering most Max flights by using spare jets and deferring maintenance jobs. <br/>