Major carriers like Alaska Airlines, Copa Airlines, and United Airlines are bringing their Boeing 737 Max 9s back into service. This move follows the January 5 incident involving an Alaska flight 1282, which led to the grounding of these aircraft.
Alaska Airlines is at the forefront, with plans to resume passenger flights using some of its 65 grounded Max 9s. The first of these flights, flight 1146, is scheduled to fly from Seattle to San Diego on January 26. According to FlightAware, the flight will depart Seattle at 15:34 and arrive in San Diego at 18:09 local time.
Alaska Airlines has rigorously inspected its Max 9s, following the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) approval of the required inspection and maintenance steps. The airline emphasizes that each aircraft will only return to service after being thoroughly inspected and declared airworthy according to FAA standards. Alaska expects to complete inspections on its entire fleet of Max 9s by the end of the next week, aiming to resume its regular flight schedule. The absence of the Max 9s led to the cancellation of 110-150 daily flights.
Copa Airlines and United Airlines Follow Suit
Copa Airlines of Panama has already started flying the first of its 21 grounded Max 9s on January 25, with plans to be fully operational by January 28. Meanwhile, United Airlines’ Chief Operations Officer Tony Enqvist announced that their Max 9s are expected to return to service on January 28. United has 79 Max 9s grounded for door-plug inspections and has completed inspections on older 737-900ERs as recommended by the FAA.
Enqvist describes the extensive inspection process: “To access each door plug, our tech-ops teams remove the inner panel, two rows of seats, and the side-wall liner. They then open the doors and inspect and verify the proper installation of the door and frame hardware, as well as the area around the door and seal.” He reassures that each Max 9 aircraft will return to service only after passing this thorough inspection.
In a related development on January 24, the FAA ordered Boeing to pause the expansion of its 737 Max production. This move is part of a large-scale investigation into the aircraft’s production safety. This decision comes as the aviation industry cautiously moves forward in the aftermath of the grounding incidents.
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