Alaska Airlines cancels flights on certain Boeing planes through Saturday for mandatory inspections
Alaska Airlines is canceling through Saturday all flights on Boeing 737 Max 9 planes like the one that suffered an in-flight blowout of a fuselage panel last week as it waits for new instructions from Boeing and federal officials on how to inspect the fleet.
The development came as signs indicate some travelers might try to avoid flying on Max 9 jetliners — at least temporarily.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines said Wednesday that it would cancel 110 to 150 flights a day while the Max 9 planes remain grounded. By late afternoon, Alaska had canceled about 125 flights — one-fifth of its schedule for the day.
One flight to Seattle from Kona International will be affected today, a spokesperson for Alaska Airlines told the Tribune-Herald. On Friday, the inspections will impact flights to both Seattle and Portland.
“We hope this action provides guests with a little more certainty, and we are working around the clock to reaccommodate impacted guests on other flights,” the airline said on its website.
United Airlines, the only other U.S. carrier that operates the Max 9, had canceled 167 flights because of the grounding order.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all Max 9s in the United States on Saturday, the day after a panel called a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines jet over Oregon, leaving a hole in the side of the plane.
The plug replaces extra doors that are used on Max 9s that are outfitted with more seats than Alaska uses.
The pilots of flight 1282 were able to return to Portland, Oregon, and make a safe emergency landing. No serious injuries were reported.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said this week they have not found four bolts used to help secure the 63-pound door plug, and they are not certain whether the bolts were missing before the plane took off or broke during the flight.
The FAA approved inspection and repair guidelines developed by Boeing on Monday. However, on Tuesday the agency ordered Boeing to revise the instructions based on “feedback received in response.”
The order to revise the guidelines came after Alaska and United reported finding loose bolts and other problems in the panel doors of an unspecified number of other Max 9s that they had begun to inspect.
Boeing CEO David Calhoun said a Boeing engineer was present during some of the Alaska checks, “and yes, he used that term, loose bolt.”
Asked how the plane was allowed to fly in the first place, Calhoun said on CNBC, “Because a quality escape occurred.”
Boeing said Wednesday that it was updating inspection procedures based on comments from FAA and the airlines, and the FAA repeated an earlier pledge to let safety determine when the planes fly again. Neither would say how long that might take.
