United Air shares close little changed on Friday, Boeing 737 MAX removed from United flight schedule until early June

United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) said on Friday that it would pull Boeing 737 MAX from its flight schedule until June 4th. Previously, it had announced flight cancellations until early March.

United Air shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Friday. The stock edged up 0.07% ($0.06) to $89.28, after touching an intraday high at $89.88, or a price level not seen since December 18th ($89.98).

Shares of United Airlines Holdings Inc have risen 6.63% so far in 2019 compared with a 28.50% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, United Air’s stock went up 24.23%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

United will cancel nearly 56 flights per day in January and February, about 80 flights per day in March and April and up to 108 flights per day in May and early June.

”With the MAX return to service date still unknown, pushing our timeline back to early June is what is best for our customers and our operation. By moving the return to service date back more than just a month – as we have done previously throughout 2019 – it allows us to have more certainty by providing our customers and our operation a firmer and more definitive timeline,” Frank Benenati, a spokesperson for United, said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

The air carrier’s decision came after the US Federal Aviation Administration said it still had almost a dozen steps to complete before approving the 737 MAX for flight.

Southwest Airlines Co, the largest 737 MAX operator in the United States, said last week that it would cancel nearly 300 flights per day from its weekday schedule of nearly 4 000 flights through April 13th.

According to CNN Money, the 17 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding United Air’s stock price, have a median target of $109.00, with a high estimate of $140.00 and a low estimate of $95.00. The median estimate represents a 22.09% upside compared to the closing price of $89.28 on December 20th.

The same media also reported that at least 13 out of 21 surveyed investment analysts had rated United Air’s stock as “Buy”, while 7 – as “Hold”.