United Air shares close lower on Friday, Boeing 737 MAX removed from United flight schedule until December 19th

United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) said on Friday that it had pulled its 14 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft off its flight schedule until December 19th, as the jet’s global grounding nears the six-month mark.

United Air shares closed lower for the third time in the past eleven trading sessions on NASDAQ on Friday. The stock went down 0.45% ($0.38) to $84.31, after touching an intraday high at $85.68, or a price level not seen since August 22nd ($85.87).

Shares of United Airlines Holdings Inc have risen 0.69% so far in 2019 compared with a 16.74% 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.

The air carrier had previously said that the 737 MAX would probably get back in the air on November 3rd.

The new change will lead to the cancellation of 93 flights per day in November and 96 flights per day between December 1st and December 18th, the airline said. This brings the number of flights canceled to more than 1 700 in December alone.

The targeted return date of December 19th is to put the jets back to service just before the Christmas holiday travel season.

United Air, along with its competitors American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, have already canceled thousands of flights during the intensive summer travel season since the 737 MAX grounding continues.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 16 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 $96.00. The median estimate represents a 29.28% upside compared to the closing price of $84.31 on August 30th.

The same media also reported that at least 13 out of 20 surveyed investment analysts had rated United Air’s stock as “Buy”, while 6 – as “Hold”.