Airlines wait for beleaguered 737 Max jets

DALLAS — Southwest and American airlines have dropped direct routes across the country as the carriers grapple with fallout from the grounding of Boeing 737 Max jets.

Southwest Airlines has suspended 13 routes across the U.S., and American Airlines has temporarily dropped a direct flight from DFW International Airport to Oakland.

American’s route from DFW to Oakland was cut starting in early June. Southwest’s cuts include routes from Austin and San Antonio to destinations throughout the country.

Airline news website The Points Guy first reported the route cuts at Southwest on Tuesday.

“The routes that the airlines canceled will be among their least strategic and least profitable routes,” said airline analyst Henry Harteveldt with Atmosphere Research. “And they are going to be on routes where they can protect the customer by routing them through another airport.”

Both American and Southwest have hustled to reroute planes since the FAA grounded all Boeing 737 Max aircraft following two deadly crashes in Asia and Africa. Southwest had 34 Boeing 737 Max jets in its fleet at the time of the grounding, the most of any carrier. American had 24.

For Dallas-based Southwest, much of the disruption is in California. At Oakland, Southwest has suspended flights to San Antonio, Newark, Indianapolis and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Three routes at Los Angeles International Airport were dropped, serving Pittsburgh, Tampa and Omaha.