American Airlines has suspended Boeing 737 Max aircraft

An American Airlines Boeing 737 Max

For the first time since the Boeing 737 Max aircraft was grounded worldwide, American Airlines has suspended a route as a direct cause of the dormant planes.

The airline will suspend flights between Oakland and Dallas/Fort Worth from July 6 to September 4 because of the Max grounding, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed to Business Insider.

Although American’s Oakland-Dallas/Fort Worth flight is operated by a 737-800, a different version of the 737 airframe that is not affected by the grounding, the fact that American’s 24 737 Max aircraft are unable to fly means that the airline has had to be strategic with its other aircraft to ensure full coverage.

“A flight that was not scheduled as a MAX flight might be canceled to enable our team to cover a MAX route with a different aircraft,” the American spokesperson said. “Our goal is to minimise the impact to the smallest number of customers.”

American has canceled around 115 daily flights because of the unavailability of the Max, according to the spokesperson, but this is the first time that the airline has completely suspended a route.

American has extended those cancellations several times during the Max grounding, which is scheduled to continue through September 3. However, the Max is forecast to remain grounded through at least this fall.

American has three to four daily flights from Oakland. Passengers seeking to travel from the city to Dallas/Fort Worth can either connect in Phoenix, or take a direct flight from nearby San Francisco or San Jose, California.