With President Trump issuing an emergency order immediately grounding the Boeing 737 Max fleet in the United States in the wake of two fatal crashes, travelers on Southwest, American and United are going to be impacted. Southwest Airlines, which has more Max planes (34) than any U.S. carrier, has issued a travel advisory allowing travelers to change their flights without penalty, with certain restrictions. The airline used the plane on about 160 of its 4,000 daily flights. "Our goal is to operate our schedule with every available aircraft in our fleet to meet our customers' expectations during the busy spring travel season," Southwest said in a statement. A Southwest flight from Oakland to Newark landed at 7:10 p.m. EDT, the final Max flight by a U.S. carrier until the grounding is lifted. American and United's last Max flights landed earlier Wednesday. American Airlines said it is working to rebook customers as quickly as possible. United said it expects minimal impact to its operation by using spare planes and rebooking affected travelers on other flights. Here are 6 things travelers need to know 1. The grounding is effective immediately. 2. No one knows how long the planes will be out of service. The last fleet grounding, of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in 2013, lasted more than three months. 3. A small percentage of flights will be affected. Just 4 percent of Southwest's daily flights are Max 8; American has 90 Max 8 flights a day out of 6,700 flights, and United has 40 daily flights on the bigger Max 9, out of 4,700 daily flights. 4. Southwest's Max 8 flights are spread throughout the country. American's Max 8 flights are concentrated into and out of Miami.United has a heavy concentration of Max 9 flights in Houston and Los Angeles. A week of Boeing 737 Max routes by carrier Boeing 737 Max:How many of those planes fly for Southwest, American, United, and where? 5. If your flight is affected, the airline likely will automatically rebook you on another flight at no cost. After the FAA ordered airlines to ground their Boeing 787s in 2013, United immediately shifted passengers scheduled on its six 787s to other flights.Southwest recommends travelers go to southwest.com to rebook, cancel or check flight status because its call centers are jammed. 6. If your flight is canceled, you are eligible for a refund. More: How to tell if you're booked on a Boeing Max 8<doc-sep>With the Boeing 737 Max 8 in the spotlight since Sunday's Ethiopian Airlines crash, passengers suddenly want to know what plane they're booked on. Here's a snapshot of the three U.S. airlines that fly the Boeing 737 Max 8 and sibling Max 9, a newer version with more seats. Note that just because a sample route is listed does not mean your upcoming flight between those two cities will be on a Max 8. Carriers often fly different planes on routes with multiple daily flights. It's relatively easy to check what plane you're due to fly. And remember, a Boeing 737-800 is not the same thing as a Boeing 737 Max 8. A week of Boeing 737 Max routes by carrier Southwest Airlines Number of Max 8s: 34 Daily flights on the Max 8: Approximately 160 Total daily flights: 4,000 Sample Max 8 routes: Minneapolis-Denver Los Angeles-Oakland Phoenix-Cleveland St. Louis-New Orleans Nashville-Los Angeles Denver-Atlanta Dallas-Albuquerque Chicago-Las Vegas Orlando-Oakland Phoenix-San Francisco San Diego-Portland Indianapolis-Denver Fort Lauderdale-Houston Boeing 737 Max routes by city American Airlines Number of Max 8s: 24 Daily flights on the Max 8: Approximately 90 Total flights: 6,700 Sample Max 8 routes: New York-Miami Miami-Orlando Washington, D.C. (Reagan)- Miami Miami-Curacao Barbados-Miami Miami-Trinidad and Tobago United Airlines Number of Max 8s: 0 Number of Max 9s: 14 Daily flights on the Max 9: 40 Total daily flights: 4,800 Sample Max 9 routes: Houston-Orlando San Francisco-Maui: Houston-Los Angeles San Francisco-Houston Houston-Cancun, Mexico Fort Lauderdale-Houston Sources: USA TODAY research, FlightAware.com<doc-sep>The US joined Europe and others in grounding all Boeing 737 Max airplanes on Wednesday. Around the world, hundreds of flights have been canceled after the plane was involved in a deadly crash on Sunday in Ethiopia. Southwest, American, and United operate the plane in the US. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the US would join Europe and many countries outside the continent in grounding all Boeing 737 Max airplanes after the model was involved in a deadly crash for the second time on Sunday. At the time of Trump's announcement, dozens of the planes — operated by American, Southwest, and United — were still airborne. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that it was ordering the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft "operated by US airlines or in US territory." American Airlines said in a statement to Business Insider that it had 24 aircraft affected by the directive and was "working to rebook customers as quickly as possible." At least six American flights were canceled between New York's LaGuardia Airport and Miami. It's possible that red-eye cross-country flights on Wednesday evening could be affected. Southwest Airlines, which earlier on Wednesday had said it had waived flight-change fees and was working with passengers who wanted to avoid flying on the aircraft in question, said it was "seeking confirmation and additional guidance from the FAA." Southwest has the largest number of the aircraft, with 34 of the planes. United Airlines, which operates 14 737 Max 9s, said the plane is used on about 40 flights a day, but it was finding alternative aircraft to serve those routes. "We do not anticipate a significant operational impact as a result of this order," the company said in a statement. "We will continue to work with our customers to help minimize any disruption to their travel." Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement that the company had consulted federal authorities and recommended the temporary restriction to the FAA "out of an abundance of caution." "We are supporting this proactive step out of an abundance of caution," the statement said. "Safety is a core value at Boeing for as long as we have been building airplanes; and it always will be. There is no greater priority for our company and our industry. We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help ensure this does not happen again." More on Boeing's 737 Max 8 and the Ethiopian Airlines disaster:<doc-sep>The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday grounded all Boeing 737 Max jets in the U.S., citing new evidence that showed similarities between two fatal crashes of the popular planes that have killed 346 people in less than five months. The move marks a stunning turnaround for the U.S., which has stood by the American-made aircraft as dozens of countries around the world grounded the planes. The crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on Sunday came less than five months after a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 — the same type of plane — plunged into the Java Sea minutes into the flight from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board. Both planes were new, delivered from Boeing just months before their doomed flights. New satellite data shows the plane's movement was similar to the October crash, the FAA's acting administrator Daniel Elwell told reporters on a call Wednesday. The agency also took physical evidence into account, but Elwell declined to elaborate. "It became clear the track was very close and behaved similarly to the Lion Air flight," Elwell told reporters on a call Wednesday. "My hope is the FAA, the carriers, the manufacturers and all parties will work very hard to make this grounding as short as possible so that these airplanes can get back up in the sky." The FAA, which is investigating the crash along with Ethiopian authorities and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, said the grounding will remain in effect during the investigation. The FAA did not have enough data to warrant grounding the planes earlier, he said. "We are a fact-driven, a data-based organization," said Elwell. "Since this accident occurred we were resolute in our decision that we would not take action until we had data to support taking action. That data coalesced today and we made the call." The NTSB said it is sending a three-member team to help investigators download and analyze data from the Ethiopian Airlines plane's black boxes, which arrived in France on Thursday. Those devices contain flight data and cockpit voice recordings that will likely shed light on what brought down the Ethiopian Airlines plane. Boeing said it recommended taking the 737 Max planes out of service out of an "abundance of caution" after talking with U.S. aviation regulators. "On behalf of the entire Boeing team, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives in these two tragic accidents," CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement. "We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help ensure this does not happen again." President Donald Trump said he spoke with Boeing's CEO, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and the acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Daniel Elwell about the decision. U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. is grounding flights by Boeing Co.'s 737 Max aircraft following the model's second crash in five months on Sunday. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images "They are all in agreement with the action. Any plane currently in the air will go to its destination and thereafter be grounded until further notice," Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. Of the more than 370 Boeing 737 Max jets in global fleets, 74 are flown by U.S. airlines, according to the FAA. Those include United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines. Southwest Airlines' fell by about 1 percent while Delta was about flat. Boeing investors lost $26.6 billion in the first two trading days this week with shares sliding 11 percent from $422.54 Friday to $375.41 at Tuesday's close. The company's market value fell from $238.7 billion on Friday to $212.1 billion by the end of Tuesday. Shares of Boeing slipped by more than 2 percent after Trump's announcement, but closed up 0.5 percent for the day at $377.14. It is very uncommon, but not unprecedented, for the FAA to ground all jets of a certain type. In 2013, the agency ordered the then-new Boeing 787 Dreamliners grounded because of lithium-ion battery malfunctions. (They were flying again about three months later.) However, in that case, European regulators and other airlines followed the FAA's lead. With the Boeing 737 Max planes, the U.S. grew increasingly isolated as country after country decided to ground the jets. Southwest Airlines planes stand on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport Jan. 19, 2018. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Lawmakers and labor unions representing flight attendants urged airlines and the government to ground the planes. Countries from India to Italy had decided to take the planes out of service, unnerving travelers and putting airlines in the tough position of alienating customers and defending the safety of the plane. United and Southwest loosened some of their ticket change fees for flyers nervous about traveling on the plane. The pilots at the controls of fatal Lion Air flight battled an automated, anti-stall system, possibly due to erroneous information from the plane's sensors, investigators have indicated. Boeing added the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, known as MCAS, to the new 737 models, which automatically pushes the nose of the plane downward to help it recover from a stall. If the data the sensors are receiving is inaccurate, the results could be catastrophic. Boeing earlier this week said it is working on a software fix as well as updates to pilot manuals and training and the FAA said it would mandate those changes by April. The FAA's Elwell said the agency did not tie its order to the software changes Boeing is preparing but said he is confident it would make it "far less likely" that pilots will have to deal with that kind of malfunction, adding that he is "absolutely" confident the federal certification of the Boeing planes. He said that the 35-day government shutdown did not delay the addition of the software to the Boeing planes. While passenger flights of the Boeing 737 Max models are banned under the order, Boeing can still operate test flights of the aircraft.<doc-sep>
Major U.S. airlines have responded to President Trump and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) calling for the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 models. President Trump said the FAA will make an announcement later Wednesday regarding the decision to ground the planes, the Max 8 model of which was involved in the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 passengers on board, as well as the crash of Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia in October. In a statement to Fox News, American Airlines addressed customer concerns over the grounding of the planes, of which the airline has 24 in its fleet. FLIGHT ATTENDANTS’ UNIONS URGE US CARRIERS TO GROUND BOEING 737 MAX 8 AIRCRAFTS “Earlier today the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) informed us that based on new information, they are grounding the United States Boeing 737 MAX fleet out of an abundance of caution. American Airlines has 24 aircraft affected by this directive. We appreciate the FAA’s partnership, and will continue to work closely with them, the Department of Transportation, National Transportation Safety Board and other regulatory authorities, as well as our aircraft and engine manufacturers. Our teams will be working to rebook customers as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience,” the statement read. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Southwest, the other major airline to fly the Max 8 aircraft, also addressed the news, stating they are seeking more information from the FAA about how to proceed. “Southwest is aware of media reports stating that the Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet will be grounded in the United States. We are currently seeking confirmation and additional guidance from the FAA and will respond accordingly in the interest of aviation safety. Once we learn more, media updates from Southwest will be posted on SWAMedia.com,” the statement to Fox News read. The airline also added that customers will be "notified of a cancellation or of a rebooking on a different flight." Both airlines have said they will update when more information becomes available. United Airlines, which flies the Max 9 model, said in a statement to Fox News that they have been in contact with investigators as well as Boeing and will fully cooperate with authorities. The airline also said it does not anticipate a significant impact to operations due to the grounding. "We will comply with the FAA’s order and will ground our 14 737 MAX aircraft. We will remain in close touch with authorities as their investigation continues," the statement read. "Since Sunday, we have been working diligently on contingency plans to prepare our fleet to minimize the impact to customers. Our MAX aircraft account for roughly 40 flights a day and through a combination of spare aircraft and rebooking customers, we do not anticipate a significant operational impact as a result of this order. We will continue to work with our customers to help minimize any disruption to their travel." Boeing has also announced it has suspended its entire global fleet of 737 Max aircraft, a total of 371 planes. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS On Tuesday, two of the largest flight attendants’ unions in the United States urged carriers to ground their Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft amid investigations into the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.