On January 5, 2024, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 made global headlines, when a door plug blew off while the aircraft was inflight. This caused the FAA to ground the Boeing 737 MAX 9, as regulators are investigating what happened.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that this incident happened due to a quality control lapse at Boeing, whereby four bolts simply weren’t installed correctly when work was being done, rather than some other greater structural issue with the aircraft. This makes sense, when you consider that the 737-900ER has been flying safely for many years, and has the same door plug situation.
Anyway, there’s now a major update regarding the 737 MAX 9 returning to the skies, and it’s good news for airlines.
FAA ungrounds Boeing 737 MAX 9 in conjunction with inspections
The FAA has just outlined the maintenance and inspection procedures that airlines will have to comply with in order to put the Boeing 737 MAX 9 back into service. The FAA has reviewed data from 40 inspections of grounded aircraft, and has also convened a Corrective Action Review Board, made up of safety experts, who approved the inspection and maintenance process.
Following the completion of the enhanced maintenance and inspection process on each aircraft, the door plugs on the Boeing 737 MAX 9 will be in compliance with the original design, which is safe to operate. This enhanced maintenance process includes the following:
- An inspection of specific bolts, guide tracks, and fittings
- Detailed visual inspections of left and right mid-cabin exit door plugs and dozens of associated components
- Retorquing fasteners
- Correcting any damage or abnormal conditions
Airlines are expected to complete this work in the coming days, and both Alaska and United are planning to resume 737 MAX 9 flights by this weekend.
Here’s how FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker describes this development:
“We grounded the Boeing 737-9 MAX within hours of the incident over Portland and made clear this aircraft would not go back into service until it was safe. The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase.”
FAA increasing oversight of Boeing, restricting growth
While it’s good news for airlines and Boeing that the 737 MAX 9 can return to service, there’s also some bad news for Boeing (well, at least “bad” in terms of the company’s ability to do whatever it wants with limited repercussions). The FAA is increasing oversight of Boeing, and that will limit growth in the near future, as Boeing 737 MAX production will be restricted. Increased oversight of Boeing will include the following:
- Capping expanded production of new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to ensure accountability and full compliance with required quality control procedures
- Launching an investigation scrutinizing Boeing’s compliance with manufacturing requirements; the FAA will use the full extent of its enforcement authority to ensure the company is held accountable for any non-compliance
- Aggressively expanding oversight of new aircraft with increased floor presence at all Boeing facilities
- Closely monitoring data to identify risk
- Launching an analysis of potential safety-focused reforms around quality control and delegation
Here’s how FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker describes this development:
“The quality assurance issues we have seen are unacceptable. That is why we will have more boots on the ground closely scrutinizing and monitoring production and manufacturing activities.”
“However, let me be clear: This won’t be back to business as usual for Boeing. We will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737 MAX until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.”
Bottom line
The Boeing 737 MAX 9 will be returning to the skies in the coming days, as the FAA has approved a maintenance and inspection procedure to ensure the same problem doesn’t happen again. However, Boeing will be subject to increased regulatory scrutiny, including not being able to increase 737 MAX production until the FAA is pleased with the quality of work at Boeing.
I’m happy to see the 737 MAX 9 returning to the skies, in terms of the ability of airlines to deliver on capacity. I’m also happy to see that Boeing is going to be regulated a bit more closely. Here’s to hoping that this isn’t just lip service, and that Boeing is actually forced to make some changes (ideally starting at the top).
What do you make of this Boeing 737 MAX update?
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