United Airlines delays return of Boeing 737 Max planes until late December

Aug. 30 (UPI) -- United Airlines on Friday extended its grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft through December, days after it relocated its fleet of the jets to Arizona for long-term storage.

The airline pushed back its return of the aircraft from early November to Dec. 19. United stopped using the Max planes in April.

The delay means United will cancel more than 90 daily flights during much of November and the first half of December.

U.S. airlines began canceling flights using the Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 during the spring after Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed on March 10. The crash came five months after another 737 Max crash in Indonesia, Lion Air Flight 610. Together, the crashes killed nearly 350 people.

Individual companies and countries grounded the planes after investigators linked the crashes to the aircraft model's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System.

On Wednesday, United said it relocated its 14 Max planes to Arizona because of construction in Los Angeles and hurricane season in Houston. The move will be completed by mid-September, the airline said.

Arizona's desert makes an ideal spot to store aircraft because there's a lack of humidity and other weather concerns.

Southwest Airlines, which has the largest 737 Max fleet, doesn't plan to fly the aircraft until 2020.