Southwest is waiving fees for passengers who want to avoid flying on the Boeing 737 Max 8 (LUV)

Courtesy of Southwest Airlines

• Southwest Airlines is waiving fees for passengers who want to avoid flying on the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft through Monday.
• "We are not issuing refunds of non-refundable fares, but we are working with customers who wish to rebook their flight to another aircraft type on a case-by-case basis. As a courtesy, we will waive the fare difference for the new flight between the same city pairs," a Southwest representative told Business Insider.
• The move follows an Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday that killed all 157 people onboard, the second crash in the last five months involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

Southwest Airlines is waiving fees for passengers who want to avoid flying on the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft through Monday.

"We are not issuing refunds of non-refundable fares, but we are working with customers who wish to rebook their flight to another aircraft type on a case-by-case basis. As a courtesy, we will waive the fare difference for the new flight between the same city pairs," a Southwest representative told Business Insider.

Read more: Kayak is working on a feature that will allow users to remove specific airplane models from their searches, including the Boeing 737 Max

An American Airlines representative told Business Insider the airline is not removing fees for customers who switch away from Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

"We will continue to comply with all FAA guidelines, and believe the Boeing 737 Max aircraft is safe and that our pilots are well-trained and well-equipped to operate it," the representative said.

United Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The airline does not use the 737 Max 8, but does use a slightly larger version of the aircraft.

Southwest’s fee waiver follows an Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday that killed all 157 people onboard. The crash was the second in the last five months involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, following the October crash of a Lion Air flight that killed 189 people.

The European Union, China, and Australia have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8, and while the Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday that the aircraft is safe to fly, US lawmakers have urged the agency to reverse that evaluation.

• Read more:
• This map shows all the countries to ban the Boeing 737 Max 8, and where airlines have grounded their fleets, after Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157
• Boeing’s software update to the 737 Max 8 was reportedly delayed more than a month because of the government shutdown
• The Boeing 737 Max is embroiled in controversy after two deadly crashes in five months. Here’s how the plane came to be.
• Everything we know about Ethiopian Airlines’ deadly crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8, the second disaster involving the plane in 5 months

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See Also:

• This map shows all the countries to ban the Boeing 737 Max 8, and where airlines have grounded their fleets, after Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157
• Kayak is working on a feature that will allow users to remove specific airplane models from their searches, including the Boeing 737 Max
• The Boeing 737 Max has come under fire after 2 deadly crashes in 5 months — but the aircraft is likely to be successful in the long-run, an aviation expert explains

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Source: Business Insider – mmatousek@businessinsider.com (Mark Matousek)