Boeing 737 MAX jets to make first stop in Las Vegas after grounding

Three United Airlines flights featuring MAX jets, two from Houston and one from Denver, are scheduled to arrive Thursday, with the first flight, UA 2086, slated to land at 6:20 p.m., according to McCarran’s website.

United spokespeople didn’t have any additional information on the MAX flights Wednesday.

The first MAX flights since the worldwide grounding occurred in January, after the jets were out of operation nearly two years due to crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.

The Federal Aviation Administration cleared the planes to return to the skies in November after multiple safety-centered changes were made by Boeing, including to the flight control system.

“The path that led us to this point has been long and grueling, but we said from the start that we would take the time necessary to get this right,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a November statement announcing the ungrounding. “We were never driven by a timeline, but rather following a methodical and deliberate safety process. A process that ultimately took 20 months to complete. During this time FAA employees diligently worked on the fixes that were necessary to address the known safety issues that played a role in the tragic loss of 346 lives.”

McCarran’s busiest carrier, Southwest Airlines, plans to resume using the MAX aircraft next month, according to spokesman Dan Landson.

“We are returning the 737 MAX 8 to service on March 11 with an initial schedule of up to 32 daily flights limited to 15 cities, one of those being Las Vegas,” Landson said. “By mid-April, Southwest will have approximately 65 MAX aircraft available for service, and the airplane will flow throughout Southwest’s network as part of our fleet of over 700 Boeing 737-700, -800, and MAX aircraft.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.