Alaska Airlines finds many loose bolts on its Boeings as United questions orders

Alaska Airlines N704AL, a 737 Max 9, which made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport on January 5 is parked on the tarmac in Portland, Oregon, on January 23, 2024. One of two door plugs on the emergency exit door blew out shortly after the plane took off from Portland. No fatalities or injuries were reported. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced January 11 it was launching a safety probe into Boeing's quality control. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft following the incident on January 5th, when a panel blew off the Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight, leaving a hole in the fuselage and forcing an emergency landing.

The company's chief executive Ben Minicucci told NBC News Tuesday that an in-house inspection of its Boeing 737 Max 9 fleet carried out after the incident had found that "many" of these aircraft had loose bolts.

"I'm more than frustrated and disappointed. I am angry," he said.

"This happened to Alaska Airlines. It happened to our guests and happened to our people," he added, calling on Boeing to "improve their quality programs in-house."

- United questions future orders -

Earlier Tuesday, United Airlines cast doubt Tuesday on future orders and deliveries of Boeing 737s in the wake of the near-disaster, in which no people died or were seriously injured.

In a conference call Tuesday, its chief financial officer Michael Leskinen said 31 out of the 107 aircraft United expects to take delivery of this year are Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft.

"It is unrealistic at this time to believe all of those aircraft will deliver as currently planned," he said.

Alongside its MAX 9 orders, United also has 277 as-yet-uncertified Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft on order through the rest of the 2020s, and options to purchase 200 further aircraft, Leskinen told the conference call.

"We also expect a reduction in orders and deliveries from Boeing in 2025," he said, noting that orders of 737 MAX 10s would also likely be affected.

The MAX grounding was "the kind of straw that broke the camel's back with believing that the MAX 10 will deliver on the schedule we had hoped for," he said.

"So we are working through an alternate plan," he added.

United's shares finished up 5.3 percent on Tuesday, the first trading day after Monday's strong fourth-quarter results were published.

Boeing's shares fell 1.6 percent, and slipped further into the red in after-hours trading.

Investigators find blown out door plug from Alaska Airlines plane US aviation authorities said Sunday the door plug of an airplane panel that blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight has been found, a part that could potentially help with the investigations into the cause of the accident.

United, Alaska Airlines report loose hardware on 737 MAX planes United and Alaska Airlines both reported on Monday that loose hardware had been discovered on some of their Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes during preliminary inspections after a dramatic mid-flight incident last week.

Boeing CEO: Alaska Airlines incident 'our mistake,' vows transparency Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun took responsibility on Tuesday for a near-catastrophic Alaska Airlines incident last week, vowing "complete transparency" as the aviation giant tries to pivot from its latest crisis.