We’ve got a fair amount of air travel upcoming. Ironic that I happened to have been asked by one insurance company to update my beneficiaries list (mailed the form this morning). 
Given the current pace, likely within a day or two, this type of aircraft will be grounded, either involuntarily by regulators or voluntarily by PR pressure. I would not change an existing reservation as alternate aircraft will likely be put in place.
I wish I had waited now, as I liked my original flight and it’s not for 2 more months. But it’s SW and no change fees. I’ll try to change it back if they ground them.
No, @conmama - the leg into France is on a different plane… still waiting on Iceland, Icelandair, or the US… or maybe Canada’s airspace? But Canada is not budging so far.
@BelmontVA Icelandair flighs one flight a day on this route between the US & Reykjavík. I doubt they have an alternate plane for it.
Now Poland has closed airspace.
As a related topic, I normally use large airlines. While their services / values might not be as great as smaller airlines, their alternate options in terms of aircraft or route are greater in case of an disruption.
We usually fly American, but will avoid them on our next flight later this month.
Thanks, @BelmontVA. I am online chatting with them now. I will say, I’m not sure a bigger airline can handle it better, at least if the same % of their fleet were this type of aircraft.
With the exception of 777, Alitalia’s fleet is all Airbus. @jym626
I have several flights on Southwest coming up in the next couple of months. Hopefully we’ll know more by then.
Me too @TatinG but mine are mostly short trips.
Hoping this gets resolved.
Regarding those who have not encountered Max 8 aircraft on Southwest, note that Southwest has 750 aircraft, only 31 (4.1%) of which are Max 8. The Max 8 does account for a slightly larger percentage of seats (4.7%), since it is one of the 175 seat aircraft (along with the -800), while most of Southwest’s fleet is 143 seat -700 aircraft.
According to the first article I posted they moved the engines up and forward which changed the balance and flying characteristics of the plane. This made the plane tend to nose up. In order to compensate they developed and automatic system to bring the nose down. But they didn’t tell or train the pilots on it. To me it’s part of the physical design. But for the engine change, the control system in question isn’t needed.
It’s like taking your SUV that tends to roll over and putting training wheels on it.
@toledo Most of American Airlines 737 max flights are from/to Miami. You’re probably good if not dealing in Miami. Search around.
Okay. Icelandair says they’ll be swapping out planes and her flights aren’t cancelled. They won’t PROMISE it won’t get cancelled due to the swap. But… for the moment, that is what they say.
And the whole EU has suspended them now.
Southwest doesn’t fly to Miami. Maybe you meant Fort Lauderdale. I saw the 737 Max 8 for a flight I was considering into Denver. I believe SWA was counting on these planes to fly to Hawaii.
^She meant American Airlines.
Sorry, my mistake. She clearly stated AA while I had SWA on the brain.
I just booked a SW flight from Baltimore to Indianapolis yesterday for work and checked the airplane type earlier today. It’s a 737-800 so it looks like I’m good. I’m wondering if they use the 736 MAX 8s on more popular routes as they have more seating.
The European Union has banned all 737 Max models from the airspace of all its member nations. The only major holdout is the US.