Captain Dennis Tajer destroys Boeing's safety culture in response to Alaska Air cabin door incident.
Alaska Airlines will resume service on its 737 Max 9 fleet on Friday with a flight from Seattle to San Diego.
The airline announced that it has completed final inspections of the first batch of its 737 Max 9 aircraft so they can return to commercial service. Friday's flight marks the first time a 737 Max 9 has returned to the skies with a plug-door since it was grounded nationwide earlier this month.
The update comes just two days after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved a detailed inspection and maintenance process for all 171 Boeing Max 9s with plug-doors so they can fly again.
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Alaska said its technicians began inspections of its aircraft following approval Wednesday. It expects to complete inspections of all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft by the end of next week, allowing the company to operate a full flight schedule.
“Each of our 737-9 MAXs will not return to service until rigorous inspections are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy in accordance with FAA requirements,” Alaska said in a statement. “Individual inspections are expected to take up to 12 hours per aircraft.”
Lead Investigator John Lovell examines the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282's Boeing 737-9 MAX. (NTSB/Fox News)
Alaska previously said reviewing each plan would take up to 12 hours.
The FAA ordered the plane to be grounded immediately after an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 lost a door panel mid-flight in Portland, Oregon, earlier this month. It forced Alaska and United, the two U.S. airlines that fly the Max 9, to cancel hundreds of flights over an extended period.
United told FOX Business that its fleet of about 79 planes is scheduled to return to service on Sunday, although they may be used as backup planes until then.
| ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALK | ALASKA AIR GROUP INC. | 36.78 | -0.61 | -1.64% |
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. | 42.53 | -0.43 | -1.00% |
The FAA said that after each aircraft successfully completes the enhanced maintenance and inspection process, “the 737-9 MAX door plugs conform to the original design and are therefore safe to use.”
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The FAA continues to investigate Boeing and its manufacturing practices and production lines, including those involving subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems.
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft sits at the gate of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on January 6, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. ((Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
The FAA laid out a series of measures to improve oversight of Boeing's production lines. It also made clear that the agency will not approve any request from Boeing to expand production or approve additional production lines for the 737 Max until it is “satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process have been resolved.”
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“The quality assurance problems we have seen are unacceptable,” said FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker. “We will therefore be increasingly on site to closely examine and monitor production and manufacturing activities.”