Alaska Airlines has begun flying Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners for the first time since the aircraft were grounded after a panel blew out of the side of one of the airline’s planes.
The airline said it resumed flying the Max 9 with a flight from Seattle to San Diego on Friday afternoon, Jan. 26.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Jan. 24 approved the inspection and maintenance process to return the planes to service. Technicians at Alaska began inspections that night, the airline said.
The airline said they expect to complete inspections by the end of this week, allowing Alaska to operate a full flight schedule. Inspections are expected to take up to 12 hours per aircraft.
“Each of our 737-9 MAX will return to service only after the rigorous inspections are completed and each plane is deemed airworthy according to FAA requirements,” the airline said in a written statement.
Alaka Airlines and United are the only two U.S. airlines that operate this particular model of the Boeing 737. United started bringing back its 737 Max aircraft into service on Saturday, Jan. 27.
The FAA has set out a process that airlines must follow to inspect — and if necessary, repair — the panels called door plugs, one of which broke loose on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Jan. 5.
The plugs are used to seal holes left for extra doors on the Max 9 when an unusually high number of seats requires more exits for safety reasons.
Alaska Airlines grounded all 65 of its Max 9 jets within hours after one of the two door plugs in the back half of the cabin of Flight 1282 blew away while 16,000 feet above Oregon. No passengers were seriously injured.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said in a message to Boeing employees on Jan. 26 that the company’s most immediate goal is to help airlines restore operations.
“Our long-term focus is on improving our quality so that we can regain the confidence of our customers, our regulator and the flying public,” he wrote.
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