The Boeing MAX will return to airline service with Southwest on 11 March, following an extensive internal retraining programme and a series of validation flights without passengers.

The low-cost carrier said that it would initially operate the B737 MAX on a fixed set of routes, separate from its pool of B737NGs.

"We'll be starting out in a very small and focused manner for the first month with just ten routes. We will not co-mingle the NG and the MAX fleet for that first month of service. After that, we'll have roughly 65 MAX aircraft available for service, and we expect to be in normal operational mode by mid-April," chief operating officer Mike Van de Ven said during the carrier's annual earnings call.

Southwest Airlines is the world's largest low-cost carrier with a 700-plus all-Boeing 737 fleet with 48 MAX delivered and outstanding orders for another 232.  In the UK, only TUI flies the aircraft, also known as the Boeing 737-8, with no introduction date yet announced.  Ryanair has the aircraft on order but likewise no formal announcement has been made as to when it will come into service.  IAG has committed to 200 of the aircraft but not decided on which of its airlines will take the plane. American Airlines has already resumed the type's services while United Airlines is set to do so in mid-February.

www.southwest.com

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