After 737 groundings, SoCal travelers watch for flight cancellations

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The nationwide grounding of Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft has so far not created any major problems for Los Angeles-area travelers.

The FAA ordered the grounding in the wake of the crash of an Ethiopian Airliner that killed 157 people.

Southwest is grounding 34 planes nationwide, while American is grounding 24 planes and United is taking 14 out of circulation.

But as of early afternoon Wednesday, the departure and arrival boards at Los Angeles International and Burbank airports were not showing any significant surges in cancellations.

Travelers who want to check on the status of their flights have several online flight tracking options, in addition to checking with their individual airlines.

They include flightaware and flightview.

Other countries have ordered groundings of the aircraft following the Ethiopia crash, in addition to the Lion Air crash in Jakarta last year that also involved a 737 Max.

"The airlines are agreeing with us," President Donald Trump said in announcing the grounding. "The safety of the American people and all people is our paramount concern. Our hearts go out to all of those who lost loved ones, to their friends and families in the Ethiopian and Lion airlines that involved the 737 Max aircraft."

American Airlines statement said it typically operates 85 flights a day using the Max out of 6,700 daily departures in the company's system

"The safety and security of our team members and our customers remains our top priority," the company said. "We continue to have the utmost confidence in our fleet."

The company said if flights are canceled because of the grounding, passengers can be scheduled on new flights at no additional cost.