Alaska Airlines and United Airlines canceled hundreds of flights after one of Alaska Airline's Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft suffered a mid-air incident when an unused door exit blew out, requiring an emergency landing.
As of Monday morning, Alaska Airlines had canceled 139 flights, or 20% of its scheduled departures, while United Airlines had canceled 204 flights, or 7% of its departures, according to FlightAware, which tracks commercial plane flights.
Friday's incident prompted the FAA to ground all of the types of Boeing 737 Max 9s involved in the incident until the agency is "satisfied that they are safe," an FAA spokesperson said in a statement Sunday.
Alaska and United are the only two U.S. passenger airlines that use Max 9 aircraft. The companies operate nearly two-thirds of the 215 Max 9 aircraft in service around the world, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. The incident also prompted both Alaska and United to ground their entire fleets of 65 Max 9s.
Alaska Airlines said passengers whose flights are canceled will be moved the next available flight, or they can request a change or a refund without incurring fees under a flexible travel policy. United said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that it is working with customers to find other travel options.
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board said the plug that was covering the unused door on the Alaska Airlines flight has been found. The agency's head said the discovery could prove vital in the investigation of the cause of the blowout, which forced the Boeing 737 Max 9 to return to Portland, Oregon, minutes after takeoff.
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