Alaska Airlines chief has reacted angrily after revealing maintenance workers have found ‘many’ loose bolts on its fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.
CEO Ben Minicucci said he was ‘angry.’
“I’m more than frustrated and disappointed,” he said.
“This happened to Alaska Airlines. It happened to our guests and happened to our people.”
“My demand on Boeing is what are they going to do to improve their quality program in-house?”
“I knew that this was an issue out of the factory. There was no question in my mind.”
“There’s no doubt that Alaska received an airplane off the production line with a faulty door,” he added.
Following the panel blowout, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded Boeing Max 9 planes and the NTSB opened a safety investigation.
It is putting Boeing through more stringent monitoring and allowing airlines including Alaska Air access to view its production line.
Alaska Airlines and United have cancelled hundreds of flights and there is still no timeline for when the planes will return to service.
“We have let down our airline customers and are deeply sorry for the significant disruption to them, their employees and their passengers,” Boeing said.
“We are taking action on a comprehensive plan to bring these airplanes safely back to service and to improve our quality and delivery performance.
