The largest carrier at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, American Airlines, has no plans to ground its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircrafts. The airline, though, says it will continue to monitor the investigation into the crash of the same aircraft in Ethiopia Sunday that killed the nearly 160 people on board.
“American continues to collaborate with the FAA and other regulatory authorities, as the safety of our team members and customers is our number one priority,” the airline said in a statement. “We have full confidence in the aircraft and our crew members, who are the best and most experienced in the industry.”
The crash has prompted China, Ethiopia, and Indonesia to ground fleets of the 737 Max 8 in those countries. The same type of plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Indonesia last October, killing all of the nearly 190 people board. American Airlines says its fleet includes 24 737 Max 8 planes, which do not regularly fly into Charlotte.
