TORONTO — The last thing the travel industry needs is another setback.
Thankfully, quick action by the Federal Aviation Administration – ordering immediate inspections of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft in the wake of the incident onboard Alaska Airlines flight 1282 – should help contain the fallout.
After one of the aircraft’s plug doors blew out just moments after takeoff on Jan. 5, AS1282 made an emergency landing in departure city Portland, OR with all passengers and crew safe and sound.
The next day Boeing issued the following statement: “Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers. We agree with and fully support the FAA’s decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane. In addition, a Boeing technical team is supporting the NTSB’s investigation into last night’s event. We will remain in close contact with our regulator and customers.”
Boeing was rocked by the Max 8 grounding in 2019, following the crashes of Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, five months apart. Canada closed its skies to the Max 8 immediately after the March 2019 crash. The return of the aircraft was approved in early 2021.
WHO FLIES THE 737 MAX 9?
For Canadian travellers, there may be peace of mind knowing that no Canadian carrier flies the 737 Max 9.
According to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, top airlines operating 737 Max 9 aircraft include (showing number of flights scheduled globally on the 737 Max 9 this month, prior to the Alaska Airlines incident) …
- United Airlines (7,951 flights)
- Alaska Airlines (5,082 flights)
- COPA (2,063 flights)
- Aeromexico (2,437 flights)
- Turkish Airlines (654 flights)
- Icelandair (414 flights)
- Flydubai (342 flights)
- AirCompany SCAT (46 flights)
All in all there are 215 737 Max 9 aircraft in service globally (i.e., have flown in the past 30 days), one in storage and 76 on order, according to Cirium’s data. United Airlines has 79 in service, and COPA has 29 in service.
Alaska Airlines says the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has taken on the lead role in the investigation into AS1282.
In updates on its site, Alaska Airlines says it made the decision to temporarily ground its 737-9 MAX fleet pending inspections, which began on Jan. 6.
Alaska Airlines’ latest update, posted yesterday (Jan. 7), says: “While we await the airworthiness directive (AD) inspection criteria from the FAA and Boeing, our maintenance teams are prepared and ready to perform the required inspections of the mid exit door plugs on our 737-9 MAX fleet. The 737-9 MAX grounding has significantly impacted our operation. We have cancelled 170 Sunday flights and 60 cancellations for Monday, with more expected. Cancellations will continue through the first half of the week, and we encourage guests with travel plans to continue to check their email and alaskaair.comfor updates. We will continue to share information as we’re able.”
The updates page on Alaska Airlines’ site with info about AS1282 and the airline’s 737-9 MAX grounding can be found here.
Alaska Airlines was most recently in the news for its new interline agreement with Porter Airlines, announced last month.
