SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines canceled all Boeing 737 MAX 9 flights through Saturday, the airline said Wednesday.
Alaska had already grounded its entire MAX 9 fleet after a piece of the fuselage detached from a plane midflight Friday. It has a fleet of 65 MAX 9 aircraft.
Alaska and United Airlines are the only U.S.-based operators of that 737 MAX model. The Federal Aviation Administration-ordered grounding, which has been in place since Saturday, has led both airlines to cancel hundreds of flights so far, with no end in sight.
Here’s what passengers should know while the disruption is ongoing.
Without an agreement between Boeing and the FAA, Alaska and United can’t begin their final inspections on the MAX 9. If there is still no agreement by Saturday, Alaska could take action to minimize disruption. That means travelers originally scheduled to fly on a MAX 9 may not be out of luck, even if the model remains grounded.
Alaska and United may cancel non-MAX 9 flights to free up aircraft to cover high-volume routes that were to be served by MAX 9s, said Henry Harteveldt, president and travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group.
As a result, passengers should be closely watching their reservations for any changes, he said.
“Subscribe to airline flight notification messages which can be sent by email and text so that you can stay on top of your reservation and be alerted if there are any changes, whether it’s a cancellation, a change in the type of aircraft that’s scheduled to operate your flight, or even the usual things such as bad weather or gate changes,” Harteveldt said.
Alaska declined to answer questions about its plans.
Travelers whose flights are canceled and decide not to travel anymore have the right to be reimbursed with cash, said William McGee, a senior fellow for aviation and travel at nonprofit organization American Economic Liberties Project. Airlines sometimes offer credits rather than cash following a cancellation.
Alaska has canceled between 110 and 115 flights a day through Saturday. On Wednesday, 19% of its total flights were canceled, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
United, which like Alaska has found loose hardware during inspections of the aircraft, did not say how long in advance it decides to cancel flights. United has a fleet of 79 MAX 9 aircraft.
If fearful passengers don’t want to fly on a MAX, they might not be able to change their flights, Harteveldt said. But passengers can check their aircraft type while booking a flight online and decide if they want to switch flights or airlines.
Aircraft are always subject to change depending on the airline’s needs, said Tolga Turgut, an associate professor at the Florida Institute of Technology’s College of Aeronautics. Passengers can find more information about the aircraft onboard. The plane is usually not a MAX if it’s listed as 737-900 or 737-800, for example, Turgut said.
There are two pieces of good news passengers should be aware of.
First, while all MAX 9 flown by United and Alaska have door plugs, those used by some high-capacity carriers abroad do not.
Second, unlike the FAA-mandated MAX groundings in 2019 due to the faulty automated flight control that contributed to two fatal crashes, the door’s mechanical issue should be easier to solve, Harteveldt said.
“The problem that occurred with a MAX 9 is completely unrelated to that flight control problem that affected all MAX aircraft,” Harteveldt said. “And this problem should be relatively easy to address.”
Still, he said, travelers should prepare for more disruption to come.
“This is a very fluid situation, unfortunately.”
On Wednesday, United said it canceled a total of 167 flights and will prevent about 45 additional cancellations by using other aircraft types. According to FlightAware, 8% of United’s total flights were canceled.
United said via email it expects “significant cancellations on Thursday as well.”
The two airlines are offering a flexible travel policy for passengers that were scheduled to fly on a MAX 9 before Sunday.
Alaska said it is waiting on Boeing and the FAA to reach an agreement on inspection details. United said it began to prepare for these inspections by removing the inner panel and visually inspecting the area “while awaiting final instructions.”
United’s inspection will include a team of five technicians working for “several hours on each aircraft.” The airline said it will learn more about the exact amount of time each inspection requires as it does more of them.
