Boeing 737 MAX 9 Return-To-Service Inspections Approved
The FAA has approved a pathway for Boeing MAX 9s to return to service. The inspection process is expected to take 12 to 24 hours and both Alaska Airlines and United have announced their MAX 9s will begin returning to service on Friday (Alaska) and Sunday (United). In addition, Copa Airlines, the national flag carrier of Panama, has announced its 21 MAX 9s will be inspected according to the FAA criteria and some will resume flying starting today and through the weekend.
The inspection process will cover bolts, fittings and guide tracks for the door plug and “detailed inspections of … dozens of associated components,” according to the FAA statement. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said, “The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed with the inspection and maintenance phase.”
The FAA ruling came with a sharply worded warning to Boeing from Whitaker that began: “The January 5 Boeing 737 MAX incident must never happen again.” His statement continued: “Let me be clear: This won’t be back to business as usual for Boeing. We will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737-9 MAX until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.”
The 737 Max grounding will cost Alaska Airlines $150 million
By Chris Isidore, CNN
5 minute read
Updated 2:36 PM EST, Thu January 25, 2024
U.S. officials move to allow Boeing's 737 Max 9 jets to return to the
skies
02:11 - Source: CNN
New YorkCNN —
The grounding of the 737 Max 9 after a January 5
incident that blew a hole in the side of an Alaska Airlines plane earlier this
month will cost the airline about $150 million, Alaska announced Thursday.
The loss is
significant to an airline the size of Alaska, which reported on Thursday an
adjusted income of $38 million in the final three months of the year and $583
million for the full year. The fourth quarter income was better than forecast
for Alaska.
The door
plug blew off an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane. While no
passengers were killed, the incident led the Federal Aviation Administration to
order a grounding of all 737 Max 9 jets. With 65 of the planes Alaska has the
second most 737 Max 9 jets in its fleet, behind only United, which has also
warned it expects a first quarter loss at least partly due to
the cost of the grounding.
On
Wednesday, the FAA spelled out inspection procedures to return the planes to flight. Alaska Air said the
first of its grounded jets will be back in service on Friday with more planes
added every day as reviews are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy.
RELATED ARTICLE FAA approves a path for Boeing 737 Max 9s to return to operations
“We expect
inspections on all our 737-9 Max to be completed over the next week,” it said.
The cost to
Alaska Air is primarily from lost revenue, as the cost to compensate customers
for hotels when their flights are canceled and overtime for staff will be
balanced by the fuel savings achieved by flying 3,000 fewer flights.
Alaska
could ultimately pass the cost onto Boeing, as CFO Shane Tackett told investors
Thursday that “we fully expect to be made whole for the profit impact of the
grounding.” But he said there are no details of that compensation as of yet.
The airline
also expects that most passengers will be willing to return to the 737 Max 9 once
it starts flying again.
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