Alaska Airlines canceled 20% of its flights on Monday after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of some Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes following last week's mid-air trial in which a door plug blew out mid-flight. was forced to.
As of Monday morning, the airline had already suspended 139 flights, according to reports. flight aware tracking site.
The company also announced Sunday that it had canceled 165 flights, or 21% of its scheduled departures, with the Seattle-based carrier impacting about 25,000 passengers.
It was not immediately clear how many passengers would be affected by the flight cancellations.
Alaska Airlines announced that flight cancellations will continue through the first half of the week.
This comes after the FAA on Saturday ordered the suspension of 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft for inspection following the Alaska Airlines mid-air crash.
The agency said in a statement Sunday that the affected 737 MAX 9 planes “will remain grounded until the FAA is satisfied they are safe.”
In addition to Alaska, United Airlines is also one of the jet's largest users. United Airlines had canceled 221 flights, or 8% of scheduled departures, as of Monday morning, according to FlightAware.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was forced to make an emergency landing after taking off from Portland, Oregon, last Friday after a door plug blew out. A large hole appeared in the left side of the plane, threatening the safety of more than 170 passengers. .
The ordeal has sparked harrowing testimonies from passengers. Among them is Emma Vu, a woman who sent what she thought might be her last message to her parents. She doesn't want to die. ”
“The mask is down. I'm so scared right now,” Vu posted a message to her parents. TikTok videos.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the door plug was found in the backyard of a Portland schoolteacher's home.
“I'm so glad Bob found this,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, who identified only the educator's last name. “We're going to pick it up and we're definitely going to start analyzing it.”
