As a precautionary move, Alaska Airlines has grounded its entire fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 MAX jets. The swift move will severely disrupt flights this weekend at Alaska Airlines, which heavily relies upon this aircraft type for its mainline operations.
In Precautionary Move, Alaska Airlines Grounded All 737-9 MAX Aircraft
Last night we covered the facts of what occurred on Alaska Airlines flight 1282. A “plugged” rear mid-cabin emergency exit door on an Alaska Airlines 737-9 MAX (essentially, part of the fuselage) separated from the aircraft minutes after takeoff, triggering a rapid decompression event. An emergency was declared and the aircraft returned to Portland. No injuries were reported.
> Read More: Alaska Airlines 737-9 MAX Exit Door Separates From Aircraft After Takeoff, Forcing Emergency Landing
While no new facts have emerged concerning the incident, Alaska Airlines swiftly grounded its entire 737-9 MAX fleet:
Flight 1282 and our next steps with the Boeing MAX-9: https://t.co/LFxJvQYNcA pic.twitter.com/oemRokr1tz
— Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) January 6, 2024
Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minucci issued the following statement:
“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available. The NTSB is investigating this event and we will fully support their investigation.
“My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced. I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants. We have teams on the ground in Portland assisting passengers and are working to support guests who are traveling in the days ahead.”
One other interesting note. The Air Current has reported that this aircraft (registration number N704AL) ran into two pressurization issues on Thursday, January 4, 2024:
“The first intermittent warning light appeared during taxi-in following a previous flight, which prompted the airline to remove the aircraft from extended range operations (ETOPS) per maintenance rules. The light appeared again later the same day in flight.”
There is some hope that the problem is isolated to this aircraft alone, but it appears prudent for Alaska to ground the entire fleet out of an abundance of caution. Now we will see if other 737 MAX 9 operators, like United Airlines, follow or if the US government mandates this.
CONCLUSION
Alaska Airlines swiftly removed its entire 65 737 MAX-9 jets from service following last night’s incident above Portland, Oregon. The carrier will inspect each aircraft before placing it back into service. Meanwhile, federal regulators are also investigating and have not ruled out a nationwide grounding of this aircraft type. Expect a lot of delays and cancellations on Alaska Airlines this weekend.
UPDATE: FAA Grounds Select Boeing 737 MAX 9 Jets
image: Alaska Airlines
I hope they UNblock all exit doors . I have never before heard of exit doors being blocked . Scary .
I have heard about it. 30 years ago, KLM plugged 2 exits on the 747-200 making them have only 8 exits.
The Boeing 737-900ER generally has 2 exits plugged. They should be inspected, too.
Delta also plugs exits. This is reducing safety. Tim Dunn claims that Delta has fewer than the maximum seats so they can plug it and that having fewer than the maximum demonstrates safety. This is wrong and dictatorial thinking. Instead, Delta goes for the bare minimum. Delta risks safety because in their 737-900ER with the 2 plugged exits, the ratio of passengers to exits is worse than European ULCC that have more seats and don’t plug the exits. The math is roughly Delta 180 seats and 6 exits or 30 seats per exit. Compared that with a 200 seat and 8 exits, which is a ratio of 25 seats per exits. See, Delta is bad.
United is also grounding their Max9 fleet. Do airlines even know what they’re looking for in these inspections? It looks like AS may have returned some to service already, though no updates on what failed here.
The key point we have yet to learn is how it happened. Was it improperly plugged? How do you improperly plug an exit door?
I think perhaps you don’t “plug” an opening on a fuselage that was designed otherwise.
What actually are they thinking? SMH.
Just a few weeks back I say Alaska advertising that they were proud to be flying an all Boeing fleet.
I bet they’re not so proud now. Buying the Max was always a mistake and now they are leanring that the hard way.
BOEING:
Better
Order
Extra
Insurance
Next
Getaway
Smart….and funny
The press is smearing Boeing and the 737 MAX. The MAX is not at fault. What is at fault is the Boeing 737 MAX 9 and, probably, the 737-900ER used by Delta and Alaska and some others. Stop plugging the exits.
It is still reasonable to ask Boeing (among) others how and why this happened.
They’re using their (old) 737s to avoid continuous canceled flights. Maybe they should bring back their old Airbus A320s if they still have them.