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Hundreds of flights have been canceled due to the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to ground certain Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. According to Reuters, there are 215 Max 9 jets in service, and the grounding order impacts 171 aircraft.
In the United States, most Max 9 jets are operated by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. As of Monday (January 8) morning, United Airlines had canceled 222 flights, while Alaska Airlines canceled 141, according to FlightAware.
Alaska Airlines said that it expects the cancelations to continue through at least the middle of the week while the grounded jets are inspected by the FAA.
The decision to ground all Max 9 jets was made after a door plug blew out in the middle of an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California, over the weekend. The plane, which had 171 passengers and six crew members, landed safely about 20 minutes after the incident.
One passenger was taken to the hospital, and several received medical treatment. Alaska Airlines said that everybody has been medically cleared following the incident.
The door plug was later found in the backyard of a man from Oregon.
After a preliminary inspection of the jets, United Airlines said it found loose bolts near the door plug assembly. The airline said it is working to fix the issues so the planes can get back in the air as soon as possible.