Alaska Air Group, the operator of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 that experienced the in-flight loss of a fuselage piece, anticipates that the suspension of the model will result in a loss of approximately $150 million in its cash flow for 2024.
Earlier this month, an Alaska Boeing 737 MAX 9 had to make an emergency landing after a panel in the cockpit detached. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) subsequently grounded over 170 units of the model from various airlines worldwide. While the regulatory agency lifted the suspension on January 24, it also forbade Boeing from expanding production of its best-selling model. This is expected to send shockwaves throughout the industry.
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Alaska and United represent 70% of the MAX 9 fleet, and the incident forced them to cancel thousands of flights. Due to the grounding and its repercussions, Alaska also questioned its capacity growth target for this year. «Given the halt and the possibility of future delivery delays, the company expects that capacity growth—forecasted between 3% and 5%—will be equal to or lower than the lower end of this range,» stated in a press release.
The airline placed orders for 42 units of the 737-10 and 10 of the 737-9 in 2022, aiming to phase out its Airbus aircraft. On September 30th, the company’s last A321neo completed its final flight and was retired. This concluded the era of European aircraft in the company and finally materialized its «proudly all Boeing» motto. Alaska and Boeing share a special relationship. Due to their geographical proximity (Alaska is based in Seattle, where Boeing began its history and has its main commercial aircraft production unit), the airline has consistently operated aircraft from the manufacturer since 1960.
Alaska stated that it expects to reintroduce the first planes into service on January 26. Additionally, it pointed out that it addressed a minor issue in a 737-900ER following an FAA-recommended inspection.
