Further info on 737 Max 8 and Max 9

That could affect travelers who have flights booked on Norwegian, Iceland Air, and who else? (speaking of travelers to Europe, not Asia).

Air Canada

European and North American airlines with the 737 Max in their fleets:

• Southwest Airlines
• American Airlines
• Norwegian Air Shuttle
• Air Canada
• United Airlines
• Icelandair
• Westjet
• LOT
• Smartwings
• TUI fly

Southwest was starting service to Hawaii from the US west cost using the MAX planes. (I know, not Europe but something to think about if you booked with them!) This will be delayed as their regular 737 feet doesn't have planes with that range.

This is not correct. The 737-800 is the plane Southwest had certified for the Hawaii routes. It is not the same as the 737 MAX. Hawaiian service is not effected.

But how many of those use the 737-Max for the trans-Atlantic portion of the flight? That is what could be difficult to replace, for those travelers who are already booked for travel between now and end of May.

Since some people are unaware of what type of aircraft their flight is using, it would be helpful to build a list. For example, I believe Iceland Air uses the Max for flights between various European cities and KEF. From KEF to the US city, it is usually a 767 (at least it is to Seattle). Maybe they use the Max for East Coast cities?

Similarly, I believe Norwegian uses mainly 787s for the trans-Atlantic flight, and then one may change to the 737 for the European leg.

I do not know how Air Canada uses theirs.

But there is certainly going to be a significant disruption in flight schedules for these airlines for the next two months. People who will be affected need to be pro-active in seeking alternatives.

The 737 Max planes were designed with oversize tanks so they could be used as a budget alternative from the western end of Western Europe to the U.S. Northeast--like New York and Boston. There are other routes they'll be eventually popular on.
We flew on a brand new one last May, and it was nice--other than not having the fine audio/visual system the 787's have. But we couldn't complain of a $150 airfare from Dublin to Boston.
I have faith in Boeing's ability to solve the inherent problem in the Max's guidance system. Before it's over, this will be one of the finest airplane programs there's ever been--with 5000 orders waiting to be built.

Icelandair has four 767's so it is not their most dominant aircraft. They mostly use 757's but were replacing some less popular U.S. routes with 737 Max.

What most airlines will do is what Norwegian did when there were problems with the 787--they chartered aircraft to replace the grounded ones.

My Icelandair flight from Kef to Stockholm in August was scheduled to be on a Max 9. Up until 3 weeks ago, it was going to be on a 757-200. Being a 'white knuckle flier' anyway, it's all a little scary to me. :)

It isn't all 737s that are being grounded, or even all 737-Max's, just 737-Max-8 and -9.

All 737 Max are grounded. Some jurisdictions have only grounded the Max 8 and Max 9, which really doesn't matter as those are the only 737 Max versions delivered so far.

It will be interesting to see if there is a connection between the LionAir crash and the Ethiopian crash. And I'm not sure I have faith in Boeing at the moment, especially not if it's true that they didn't told pilots about the software that is suspected to be the cause of the crashes.

But whatever the reason is, the 737 Max is now by far the deadliest modern major airliner.

Crashes per million flights:

• Airbus A320ceo: 0.15
• Airbus A320neo: 0
• Boeing 737NG: 0.11
• Boeing 737 Max: 4

I'd very much like to see some solid references that substantiate Badger's numbers and assertion about accident rates.