Seattle, Washington – Alaska Airlines announced on Wednesday that it will be canceling all flights on Boeing 737 Max 9 planes until Saturday. This comes after a fuselage panel on one of the Max 9 planes blew out mid-flight last week, prompting grounding orders from Boeing and federal officials. In response to the incident, some travelers are now avoiding flying on Max 9 jetliners, at least temporarily.
Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle, stated on its website that it will be canceling 110 to 150 flights per day while the Max 9 planes are grounded. By late afternoon on Wednesday, the airline had already canceled roughly 125 flights, which accounts for one-fifth of its daily schedule. The airline assured affected passengers that it is working diligently to accommodate them on other flights.
In addition to Alaska Airlines, United Airlines is the only other U.S. carrier operating the Max 9. United has also experienced flight cancellations due to the grounding order, with a total of 167 flights affected. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all Max 9s in the United States the day after the incident, in which a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines jet, leaving a hole in the side of the plane. The pilots were able to safely land the plane in Portland, Oregon.
According to National Transportation Safety Board investigators, four bolts that are used to secure the door plug were not found, and it is unclear whether they were missing prior to takeoff or broke during the flight. The FAA initially approved inspection and repair guidelines developed by Boeing, but later ordered the company to revise the instructions.
Both Boeing and the FAA are updating their procedures based on feedback from the airlines. However, they have not provided a timeframe for when the planes will be cleared to fly again. Boeing CEO David Calhoun acknowledged that loose bolts had been discovered during inspections by Alaska and United, and said that an engineer from Boeing was present during the checks.
The Max 9 planes are outfitted with door plugs that are installed by Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems. It is unknown which company’s employees last worked on the door plug of the Alaska Airlines plane involved in the incident. Boeing has expressed remorse and emphasized the importance of safety during this challenging time.
Travel-search site Kayak reported a three-fold increase in the number of people filtering their searches to find flights without the Max 9 aircraft after the Alaska Airlines incident. However, industry experts believe that once the FAA gives the green light for the planes to fly again, public attention will wane. The Max series has been plagued by manufacturing quality issues since the crashes of two Max 8 jets in 2018 and 2019, which claimed the lives of 346 people.
In summary, Alaska Airlines has canceled all flights on its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes until Saturday. United Airlines, the only other U.S. carrier with Max 9 planes, has also experienced flight cancellations. The FAA grounded the Max 9s after a fuselage panel blew out during a flight. Investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the incident, and both Boeing and the FAA are revising their inspection and repair procedures.