The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX Flight 1282, which was forced to make an emergency landing with a hole in the fuselage, is seen during its investigation by the National Air Safety Board Transportation in Portland, Oregon, on January 7. , 2024.
Ntsb | Via Reuters
Airlines have canceled hundreds of flights since the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to take boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft out of service for urgent inspections.
Here’s what travelers should know:
Why did the FAA ground the planes?
FAA grounded more than 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes so they could be inspected after a door socket panel exploded Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Friday. No one was seriously injured on the Ontario, California-bound flight that returned to Portland, Oregon, when the incident occurred minutes into the flight at about 16,000 feet.
Which airlines are affected?
united airlines and Alaska Airlines are the largest operators of the Boeing 737 Max 9, with 79 and 65 aircraft in their fleets, respectively.
United canceled 229 major flights on Monday, representing about 8% of its schedule, according to FlightAware. The airline has been using other types of aircraft, whenever possible, to avoid cancellations.
Alaska Airlines, which has fewer aircraft types in its fleet compared to United, canceled 143 flights, about a fifth of the day’s schedule.
United canceled 385 flights over the weekend, while Alaska canceled 328 flights.
Other airlines, including Copa de Panamá and Aeroméxico, are affected by the inspection order. Copa has canceled more than 150 flights since Saturday and Aeroméxico has canceled 100 during that time, FlightAware shows.
The most common aircraft, the Boeing 737 Max 8, is not affected.
Can I get a refund if my flight was cancelled?
United and Alaska have implemented travel waivers that allow customers to rebook their flights without paying change fees or canceling their flights entirely.
How long will the planes be on the ground?
The FAA on Monday approved Boeing’s inspection instructions for airlines, a key step in getting planes back into the air. Still, it is not immediately clear how long the inspections will last.
United said Monday that its inspections had found loose bolts on several Max 9 planes.
The airline stated that the inspections require “a team of five United technicians working for several hours on each aircraft.”
Carriers will likely be able to return planes to service once they pass inspections, if they meet standards.
Which part of the plane failed and why?
It is unclear what caused the door plug to explode during the flight. The piece of the plane is located where an emergency exit would be on planes that carry more travelers. On planes configured for fewer passengers, such as those from United and Alaska, a traveler sitting in the cabin would not know that there is a door-shaped piece cut into the fuselage.
The National Transportation Safety Board recovered the door, which was discovered by a school teacher in Oregon. Examining the door, its fasteners and other details will be key to the NTSB investigation into this rare accident, but the results could take weeks, if not months, to complete.
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