Alaska Arlines and its passengers had a major fright when one of its aircraft’s fuselage fell off mid flight. This is another scandal for Boeings newest airframes, the 737 Max 9.
In response, Alaska Airlines grounded its fleet of Max 9s until Boeing can review its maintenance. The repercussions of the grounding will be most felt in Alaska, but could have broader reach. The NY Times says:
The carrier has grounded a fifth of its fleetafter a fuselage panel blew out on one of its Boeing 737 Max 9 jets on Friday night, leaving a hole in the side of the plane.
The airline announced Wednesday that it would keep its Max 9 jets grounded until at least Saturday while it awaited instructions from Boeing on how to carry out safety inspections.
Other than Alaska Airlines, United is the only other Max 9 operator. Depending on if the error is due to the design or the operator, further airline delays can be expected. CBS News says:
The Max 9 jets, certified by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2018, can seat up to 220 passengers and have a range of 3,300 miles, according to Boeing.
Currently, there are only two airlines in the U.S. that fly the Boeing 737 Max 9: Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. United is the biggest operator of Max 9s in the world. The two airlines together operate about two-thirds of the 215 Max 9 aircraft in service around the world, according to to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Like the defense industry, the civilian aviation industry is facing rapidly rising costs to compete worldwide. If the Max 9s flaw is structural, Boeing might have to scrap the entire design.
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