1.06.24 – Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX-9 Groundings

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX-9 Groundings

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Following an incident last night on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX-9 where the emergency exit door panel blew outward from the aircraft shortly after take-off, the FAA has ordered the grounding of several Boeing 737 MAX-9 configurations for investigation.

The incident was caused by a feature referred to as a ‘Door Plug,’ which is only present on the MAX 9 aircraft configurations. American Airlines does not operate the Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft, and none of the aircraft in our Boeing 737 MAX-8 fleet have a door plug feature like the one that failed on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft.

APFA Safety and Security remains engaged with American Airlines Safety to ensure proper communication with the FAA and Boeing is in place to understand what occurred fully.

The groundings of the Boeing 737 MAX-9 configurations will not affect American Airlines, as we do not operate those aircraft. Still, if the situation were to change, we would communicate accordingly and will provide what steps are being taken to mitigate the effects on our members.

APFA applauds the Alaska Airlines’ crewmembers for their quick efforts leading to a safe emergency landing back to PDX after last night’s decompression. If you have any questions, please reach out to the APFA Safety & Security Department. The APFA Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is also available 24 hours, 7 days a week by calling the new confidential phone line at (833) 214-2002.

In Solidarity,

Andrew Rhinehart
APFA National Safety & Security Chair
[email protected]