by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:00 AM ET, Wed January 24, 2024
Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci provided an update on the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX 9 inspections, noting that the airline found loose bolts on “many” of the inspected planes, as told a correspondent for NBC Nightly News late on January 23.
The inspections, which take around ten hours per door, have found loose bolts similar to the one that led to the door panel flying off of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on January 5 in mid-air. The FAA has not said when the planes can return to service following the inspections or if any repairs need to be made.
The airline has 65 of these planes in service, which is around 20 percent of its fleet, impacting the airline with around 110 to 150 cancellations each day while they are all grounded.
“'I’m angry. I'm angry. I'm more than frustrated and disappointed. I am angry,” Minicucci told senior correspondent Tom Costello. “This happened to Alaska Airlines. It happened to our guests and happened to our people. And — my demand on Boeing is what are they going to do to improve their quality programs inhouse. And then in addition, in addition to the FAA oversight that's going to come on top of this. We're now putting our own extra oversight on the production line at Boeing.”
The airline’s own inspectors have begun inspecting Boeing’s production lines for their future planes to ensure that safety quality standards are met.
Alaska Airlines and United Airlines are the only airlines in the nation that fly Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 aircraft. The initial incident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, while the Federal Aviation Administration has joined the probe to determine if it was Boeing’s fault.
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