[Read live updates on the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the Boeing 737 Max 8 bans here.]
As he waited on Tuesday morning to board Southwest Flight 2315 from Oakland to Los Angeles, William Gonzales learned that the plane that he was about to board was a Boeing 737 Max 8.
“This is the Max?” Mr. Gonzales asked, his eyes widening. “I’m not getting on that plane if it’s the Max.”
The model, which was involved in the second fatal crash within five months on Sunday, had by Tuesday been banned from the national airspace of China, Australia and countries in the European Union. At least 34 airlines around the world have grounded their planes.
But United States and Canada carriers that fly it — Southwest, American Airlines and Air Canada, and United, which flies the Max 9 — all said they would continue to use the plane as scheduled.
After scrolling through his phone to look up the plane model, which turned out to be a Max 8, Mr. Gonzales said he would take a later flight.
“There are enough flights going to L.A. and I can miss a meeting,” he said.
But Mr. Gonzales seemed to be the exception — onboard the flight there was anything but alarm, and disarray and disruption seemed to be minimal at airports.
In a statement Monday evening, the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air safety in the United States, said, “External reports are drawing similarities between this accident and the Lion Air Flight 610 accident on October 29, 2018. However, this investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions.”
The statement added, “This aircraft has a strong safety record in the U.S., where the F.A.A. continues to closely monitor its performance as part of our everyday oversight of aviation safety.”
According to the F.A.A. statement, there are 74 Max 8s in the U.S.-registered fleet, and 387 worldwide.
As carriers grounded those planes, on many airlines, passengers were automatically being rebooked on flights — without even having to call the airline. Norwegian Air Shuttle, Norway’s largest airline, which has 18 Max 8 planes in its fleet, was offering free rebooking and refunds to affected passengers, for example.
How can airlines already operating at capacity move around so many passengers to other planes? Norwegian’s statement hinted at the logistical complexity. “All aircraft that are currently airborne will continue to its destination or return to home base. We are now working on reallocating our fleet options with other aircraft types, re-bookings to other flights and combining flights to minimize inconvenience caused to our passengers.”
TUI, the world’s largest charter airline, which operates five Max 8 planes, said on Tuesday that they were grounded. “Any customers due to fly home today on a 737 Max 8 from their holiday will be flown back on another aircraft,” the company’s statement said. “Customers due to travel in the coming days will also travel on holiday as planned on other aircraft.”
Air Canada canceled its Tuesday flight from Halifax to London because Britain had banned the plane from its airspace.
In a statement, Air Canada said it was working to rebook affected customers as soon as possible through its Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa hubs. It also said customers could rebook their flights at no added cost.
“The reality is that flight cancellations even before this crash were a part of travel,” said Douglas Kidd, the executive director at the National Association of Airline Passengers.
According to data at FlightAware.com, a website that tracks flight activity live, major British airports like Heathrow and Gatwick did not appear to show a spike in the usual number of canceled flights.
Passengers choosing to cancel their flights on American carriers scheduled on Max 8s are not being offered refunds by the airlines. Dan Landson, a spokesman for Southwest, wrote in an email that, “we are not issuing refunds of nonrefundable fares though we are working with customers individually who wish to rebook their flight to another aircraft type.” Southwest does not charge change fees, and passengers are able to change their flights, paying only the difference in fare.
American Airlines does charge its passengers change fees. When a passenger tweeted on Tuesday that his family was looking to rebook a nonrefundable flight, the airline’s Twitter account responded, “We don’t have a travel waiver program in affect, but we are confident in the safe operation of all of our aircraft, including the 737 MAX 8.”
New York’s La Guardia Airport, which serves only North American destinations, was characteristically bustling on Tuesday, its operations more affected by the major construction out front than the nerves of rattled fliers within.
Michael Cadesky, a certified public accountant from Toronto, at La Guardia Airport, said he was not worried about the safety of his plane. CreditChang W. Lee/The New York Times
“Statistically, flying is the safest way to travel,” said Michael Cadesky, 65, a certified public accountant from Toronto. “It’s safer than taking the taxi into Midtown.”
Mr. Cadesky, who takes around 30 flights annually, said he did not care whether he flew on a Max 8 because he suspected the past two crashes were due to poor maintenance or mechanical error, something he doesn’t worry about with Air Canada, which he flew on Tuesday.
Thomas Fuller, John L. Dorman, Tariro Mzezewa, Nate Schweber and Justin Sablich contributed reporting.
