Cancel Alaska Airlines flight on Boeing 737 Max?

[kokopelli-az]

Currently booked an Alaska Flight 336 (PDX-FLL) for February 2.    I am getting very worried about whether or not this flight is going to be cancelled at the last minute.   

 

Does anyone have any insight as to the status of the 737 inspections and the possibility/probability of this flight being cancelled?   All I can find is that Alaska has grounded these planes through Sunday (Jan 21). 

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

As of a day or so ago, the FAA had inspected 40 Maxs (so about 20% of the flying planes, worldwide) and were reviewing the inspection data, to assess the effectiveness and relevance of their inspections.

 

Nobody will be able to tell you if your flight is a go or not.

[Gardyloo]

If the planes are still grounded, no doubt Alaska will reaccommodate you on an alternative flight, most likely via Seattle on non-MAX equipment. I certainly wouldn't cancel my reservation in the meantime.

[jsglow]

I agree with the above.  I actually was scheduled to fly Alaska the day after the door blew off and was rerouted because our intended plane was a grounded MAX. Obviously that wasn't happening. It was certainly an ordeal but the Alaska people codeshared us onto American to get us to Seattle.  By that next Wednesday, we flew without issue.

 

I have no doubt that Alaska is planning for this already, as necessary. Leave your flight arrangements as they are. Alaska is likely to make necessary decisions as far in advance as possible. (As opposed to the few hours they had for me!) And they'll have contingency plans.  Just be prepared to 'go' when they say 'go', even if that means Thursday, February 1st or on one of their codeshare partners.

Edited January 19 by jsglow

[grandma*knows*best]

If your flight is scheduled on a 737 Max 9, be proactive.  Look into rebooking on a flight using a different aircraft.  It’s very unlikely they will be back flying any time soon.  

[BOB999]

At this point, any Alaska Airlines mainline flight is a risk irrespective of the scheduled aircraft.  With each day Alaska (and United) are choosing which flights they want to operate and which ones aren't.  With the flights they choose to operate they swap in whatever aircraft they can (e.g. 737-900, -800, -700, -8MAX, etc).

 

Using the OP's PDX-FLL flight as an example, it's operating today, flew yesterday and was cancelled the five days before.  The PDX-MIA flight cancelled the last two days but operated 5 of the previous 6.  

[kokopelli-az]

OK, here's an update to what I actually did.  I still have Alaska flight 336 (PDX-FLL Feb 2).  This flight is still showing as being available to book on Alaska's website.  And they are still showing the 737-9 MAX as the plane being used.   I need an early flight, of which Alaska has several; however they all involve at least one leg that uses the 737-9 MAX.   

 

Not wanting to wait to hear from Alaska as to whether this flight will be canceled, I booked another flight on American.  So, I have American and Alaska booked for PDX-FLL on Feb 2.  

 

My plan is if Alaska cancels flight 336, I will request a refund and take the American flight.   If Alaska  does not cancel, I will take the Alaska flight, cancel the American flight and receive a credit to use on a future flight with American.  

 

I think I have all my bases covered at this point.   I did not want to wait until the last minute as I am traveling with a disabled person and need somewhat specific seating arrangements.  

 

I'm curious how far ahead of time Alaska will notify me if my flight is canceled.    

 

Alaska has not made any announcements that I have seen since a press release on Jan 20.

 

[hallux]

On 1/23/2024 at 1:13 PM, kokopelli-az said:

My plan is if Alaska cancels flight 336, I will request a refund and take the American flight.   If Alaska  does not cancel, I will take the Alaska flight, cancel the American flight and receive a credit to use on a future flight with American. 

You'll need to be careful here.  If you end up with the first option you may end up with a cancelled return flight as well if they were the same confirmation.

[kokopelli-az]

35 minutes ago, hallux said:

You'll need to be careful here.  If you end up with the first option you may end up with a cancelled return flight as well if they were the same confirmation.

It's a one way flight.   PDX-FLL

 

The return flight (separate booking) is on Delta.  FLL-PDX

[BOB999]

FYI, Alaska Airlines will begin returning 737 MAX 9 aircraft into service on Friday following new inspections.

 

https://news.alaskaair.com/alaska-airlines/operations/as-1282/

[CruiserBruce]

And United as soon as Sunday.

[kokopelli-az]

Wow!   Thanks everyone.   I may be in luck for Alaska flight 336 on February 2.  😊

[jsglow]

Yep. The FAA just lifted the grounding.  It certainly seems like those bolts were never put back in at Boeing after they had to remove the plug previously fully installed as part of the sub-assembly manufactured at Spirit AeroSystems.

 

The good news is that it's certainly not a design problem. The bad news is that Boeing needs to get it's quality control 'crap' together. And pronto. They are going to have inspectors from everywhere crawling over them for a long time.

[SelectSys]

On 1/25/2024 at 7:23 AM, jsglow said:

The bad news is that Boeing needs to get it's quality control 'crap' together. And pronto

Sadly, Boeing quality in my opinion seems to have gone down hill at least since the merger with McDonnell Douglas and the movement of HQ from Seattle to Chicago.  The recent move from of HQ Chicago to Arlington VA suggests that product focus instead of government lobbying won't be coming to the forefront anytime soon.  

[jsglow]

4 minutes ago, SelectSys said:

Sadly, Boeing quality in my opinion seems to have gone down hill at least since the merger with McDonnell Douglas and the movement of HQ from Seattle to Chicago.  The recent move from of HQ Chicago to Arlington VA suggests that product focus instead of government lobbying won't be coming to the forefront anytime soon.  

Agreed. While I certainly think it took awhile to deteriorate, on MY first day as Chairman I'd fly my entire team back to Seattle and tell them to go house hunting AFTER they all walked the factory floor for a week. Any entrepreneur will tell you to stay darn close to 'the reason we exist'.

[SelectSys]

10 minutes ago, jsglow said:

While I certainly think it took awhile to deteriorate

I don't think it is a recent issue.  Boeing's last three commercial product deliveries have all been botched in my opinion -

 

787 - very late and many quality problems

737max -  a complete disaster that led to the loss of life

777x - very years late and many issues