American Airlines cancels 737 MAX flights until Jan. 16

American Airlines Group Wednesday extended cancellations of Boeing 737 MAX flights through Jan. 15, running contrary to the US planemaker's promises that the grounded jets would be flying again before the year-end. The largest US airline, which had previously canceled about 140 flights a day through Dec. 3, upped its estimate for the impact of the groundings on Q3 pre-tax profit to $140m, $15m more than a previous estimate. Its shares, down about 16% in a rough year for airlines, rose, however, on the company's statement that lower fuel costs had boosted margins in the third quarter. Boeing shares, buffetted this week by conflicting signals on European regulators' attitude to the MAX, were also marginally higher. In July, American said full-year profit would be reduced by about $400m if the MAX remained grounded through Nov. 2, and that figure is likely to increase now with a spillover effect into 2020. Boeing's sales numbers on Tuesday also showed that by the end of September it had delivered only half the number of aircraft it did in the same period of 2018. Regulators are still reviewing proposed software changes to the grounded plane with no certain timetable for the jet's return.<br/>