United Airlines has officially announced that they expect up to 60 flights to be cancelled today due to the temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 9.
The FAA announced in the last hour or so that up to 171 units of the type being operated in the U.S will need to be temporarily grounded for inspections following the Alaska Airlines incident last night.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Airline Cancels Services As Issues Continue…
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In a statement, a spokesperson said the following on this:
“United has temporarily suspended service on select Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to conduct an inspection required by the FAA. We are working directly with impacted customers to find them alternative travel options.”
United has 79 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, including about 33 that have already received the necessary inspection that is required by the FAA.
Removing certain MAX 9 aircraft from service is expected to cause about 60 cancellations today.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by U.S airlines or in U.S territory.
The statement from the FAA reads:
“The FAA will order the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by U.S airlines or in U.S territory”.
“The Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) that will be issued shortly will require operators to inspect aircraft before further flight that do not meet the inspection cycles specified in the EAD”.
“The required inspections will take around four to eight hours per aircraft. The EAD will affect approximately 171 airplanes worldwide”.
American planemaker Boeing has released a statement also in the last few minutes, agreeing with the FAA’s decision to implement this temporary grounding:
“Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers.”
“We agree with and fully support the FAA’s decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane.”
“In addition, a Boeing technical team is supporting the NTSB’s investigation into last night’s event. We will remain in close contact with our regulator and customers.”
All eyes will be on what happens next.
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