This latest FAA notification is again impacting more aircraft used for Hawaii flights. The agency expanded the inspection of Boeing 737 planes to extend to older Boeing 737-900 ER planes. This inspection will include planes regularly used on flights to Hawaii and have been for a long time. These are not new planes, and some of them are more than 15 years old.
Late on Sunday, the FAA recommended that airlines perform visual inspections of door plugs installed on the older Boeing 737-900ER planes that we’ve flown regularly to and from Hawaii for years. The FAA pointed out that the same door plugs used on these older aircraft are found on the MAX 9, which had a critical problem in flight earlier this month that was followed by an emergency landing and fleet grounding.
This is the next scrutiny Boeing aircraft models face as the FAA updates its regulatory and safety practices.
Two airlines regularly fly Boeing 737-900 ER planes to and from Hawaii.
Alaska Airlines has 79 of these planes and uses them routinely to and from Hawaii. These were in the air, en route to Hawaii, as recently as today.
Delta Airlines also has a fleet of the same model. They are, however, not used on Delta Hawaii flights.
Lastly, United Airlines has the largest fleet of this aircraft, with a total of 136 Boeing 737-900 ER planes. They also regularly fly them to and from Hawaii.
No known problem to date following 11+ million hours of flight.
The FAA confirmed there have not been any issues thus far on these older planes following some four million take-offs and landings. Nonetheless, due to the similarity in design, the agency recommends that these aircraft have visual inspections of the mid-exit door plugs to ensure they are properly secured at four critical locations on the airframe.
The three US operators of the aircraft, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, have all begun inspections as indicated by the FAA. The airlines don’t believe these will cause any further cancellations, as has been the case with the ongoing grounding of the MAX 9.
How does the latest news impact your decision on which aircraft to fly?
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