Kayak and TripAdvisor offering filters to exclude Boeing 737 Max flights
- Kayak is releasing filters this week so passengers can screen out particular aircraft like the Boeing 737 Max
- TripAdvisor identifies aircraft types for customers in search results
- Southwest, United, American say they continue to try and accommodate nervous travelers
Worried your next flight might be booked on a Boeing 737 Max? Online booking website Kayak is among travel sites that are allowing customers to filter out or switch plane types after the crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 model in Ethiopia on Sunday that killed all 157 passengers on board.
Kayak is releasing filters this week to make them "more granular in order to exclude particular aircraft models from search queries," Kayak spokeswoman Kayla Inserra told CBS MoneyWatch. The search engine is "committed to providing our customers with all the information they need to travel with confidence."
Booking website TripAdvisor will also identify aircraft types for customers in search results. The ID for the 737 Max 8 is 7M8, TripAdvisor spokeswoman Elizabeth Monahan said in an email.
Most airlines inform passengers of the type of aircraft when booking a flight online or over the phone. CBS News reports that websites like SeatGuru and FlightStats can show the type of plane model for a specific flight. According to The Points Guy, American Airlines' Max 8 planes have row numbering systems that differ from traditional 737s.
While more airlines and countries outside the U.S. are grounding flights on 737 Max models, U.S. airlines have continued to fly the model. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has said it has found "no systemic performance issues and ... no basis to order grounding" Boeing's three-year old aircraft.
Southwest and American fly the 737 Max 8 model, the same type that crashed in Ethiopia. United has 737 Max 9 models in service.
If you've already booked your flight, you can typically tell the type of aircraft on your itinerary. Southwest allows passengers to rebook flights for free. United is telling customers it "will do what is best in our capabilities to find alternative travel arrangements," according to the airline posts on Twitter, while American is stating that "typically, voluntary changes carry a change charge," according to posts on Twitter.
