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Another airline takes Boeing airplanes out of rotation

This comes as Alaska and United are making accommodations for passengers who don't feel comfortable riding on the newly inspected Max 9 jets.
Posted at 9:09 PM, Jan 26, 2024

Southwest made the announcement that they are no longer including the Boeing Max 7 plane in their fleet plan for this year.

This comes as Alaska and United are making accommodations for passengers who don't feel comfortable riding on the newly inspected Max 9 jets.

The travel booking website Kayak has a filter option to exclude any planes that you don't want to fly on. They say ever since Jan. 6, the day after the door plug flew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, they have seen an increase of 15 times the amount of folks searching to exclude a Max 9 in their travel plans.

Both Alaska and United say if you do book a flight on a Max 9, they will directly work with customers who just aren't comfortable riding on one.

Meanwhile, Southwest has announced that they are taking the 737 Max 7 out of fleet plans for this year. That takes the number of overall expected Max deliveries for Southwest this year from 85 to 79. This all comes just a few days after United says it's taking the Max 10 out of its fleet plan. 

Both planes have yet to be certified. And with Boeing under close scrutiny from the FAA, there is not a timeline for these planes to be certified. 

This was expected  to be a big year for Boeing and their Max production. But as of now, the FAA is no longer allowing Boeing to expand their production of all Max models — the 7, 8, 9 and 10 — until their production meets the agency's quality and safety standards.

FAA lays out inspection plan to get Boeing 737 Max 9s back in the air
View of a plane body on the tarmac

FAA lays out inspection plan to get Boeing 737 Max 9s back in the air

The jets were grounded after an incident in which a door plug flew off a Max 9 jet midflight, forcing an emergency landing.

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