A big U.S. airline has acknowledged a financial hiccups and is bracing for losses between January and March. The main culprit? They pointed to the Boeing 737 Max 9 jets getting grounded as the primary contributing factor.
Following an incident where an unused door detached mid-flight, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded 171 of these aircraft. United Airlines, with 79 in its fleet, surpasses all other carriers, closely trailed by Alaska Airlines.
The ongoing inspections have compelled both airlines to cancel a substantial number of flights this month.
United Airlines has projected that the planes will continue to be grounded until January 26, with its forecast assuming an inability to operate them at all for the remainder of this month.
At an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,876 meters), the Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, entered an emergency descent, triggered by the detachment of the unused emergency exit door, according to flight tracking data.
The FAA announced on Sunday that another older model, the 737-900ER, should undergo inspection as it shares the same door design. United, with 136 of these jets in its fleet, is affected by this directive.
In a statement on Sunday, the agency said: “The safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning these aircraft to service.”
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The 737-900ER models, having conducted 11 million hours of operations without a similar incident to the newer 737 Max 9s, are not subject to grounding by the FAA as operators perform visual inspections.
Boeing is feeling the heat and announced plans to up their inspection game in the manufacturing process. Adding to the mix, United Airlines reported not-so-great pre-tax profits for the whole of 2023, about $3.4 billion (£2.67 billion).
On Tuesday morning, during a call with analysts and investors, United is expected to discuss results and provide updates on safety inspections for grounded planes. Alaska and Boeing are both scheduled to report their results in the next two weeks.
This morning, during a chat with analysts and investors, United is probably going to spill the beans on their results and give us the scoop on safety inspections for those grounded planes. Alaska and Boeing are set to share their results in the next couple of weeks too.