Southwest Airlines says it won't fly 737 MAX before January 2020

Southwest Airlines said Thursday it will keep the Boeing 737 MAX grounded until January 2020, estimating it could take two months to resume flights after the plane is cleared by regulators.

The announcement means Southwest will be the first major US carrier to give up on resuming MAX flights in 2019 as a global grounding in March of the jets following two deadly crashes has dragged on.

Southwest said the MAX grounding dented second-quarter earnings by $175 million.