The Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC) announced the suspension of Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 flights to the Dominican Republic. The IDAC said the measure is a follow up to the announcement by the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) of the United States that the jets would be grounded for safety reasons.
The flight suspension has mainly affected American Airlines operations. Nevertheless, all Punta Cana International Airport flights are on schedule. Three of five flights from Miami to Santo Domingo are operating (987, 1072 and 1511), but two have been grounded until replacement planes can be found. These are flights 1481 and 1337 from Miami. The flights that are operating are using 737-800 jets. Flight 2365 to Santiago from Miami is on schedule. Of the two flights to Puerto Plata International, only 1349 is on schedule from Miami. The airline expects to normalize service within a week.
United Airlines flights operated as normally as they do not use the 737 Max 8 to fly to the Dominican Republic.
JetBlue, the main carrier covering the country, uses Airbuses on their routes to the Dominican Republic. American Airline lists Boeing 737 800 and 900 as their equipment and flights.
Copa flights have not been affected as the airline flies Boeing 737-800 and Embraer 190 aircraft.
It was also known that Aerolineas Argentinas flew Boeing 737 Max 8 to the Dominican Republic and its operations could be affected.
After the fatal crash of two of the brand new Boeing 737 Max 8 jets, passengers are uneasy about the safety of the airplanes. A new Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight went down over the Java Sea in October 2018, killing 189 people. The concern spread after the Ethiopian Air crash in Ethiopia killing 157 people. Both planes crashed shortly after takeoff.
Dozens of countries, including all European Union States, China, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia announced they would be grounding the airplanes.
Norwegian Air became the first airline to seek compensation from Boeing for its grounded fleet of 737 Max 8 jets.
On Wednesday, 13 March 2019, President Donald Trump announced that Boeing would ground the 737 Max 8 and Max 9 airplanes in the United States effective immediately following the lead of the other nations. Shortly before the announcement, Canada’s transport minister had said satellite-tracking data showed similarities between the two recent crashes of the jet. The data reveals there were similar “vertical fluctuations” and “oscillations.”
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14 March 2019