The nationwide grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9 passenger planes — after part of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines Max 9 blew off of the plane over Portland, Ore. — has had relatively little effect on travelers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
That's because the newer 737 Max 9 planes fly here sporadically, operated by just two airlines with a small market share at MSP: Alaska and United. Since the Portland incident, all Max 9s have been grounded for inspection.
The Jan. 5 incident stemmed from the Max 9's door plug — an optional emergency exit that was meant to be sealed. Both of the airlines have since confirmed that loose bolts were found on some of the jets.
Alaska and United airlines have canceled hundreds of flights this week, but relatively few at MSP, according to data from FlightAware.com. Most of MSP's cancellations have involved Alaska's service to Seattle or United's Denver and Chicago routes.
Here is a running count of the two airlines' cancellations at MSP this week, according to FlightAware:
Jan. 8: United, 3. Jan. 9: United, 1. Jan. 10: United, 2; Alaska, 2. Jan. 11: United, 4. Jan. 12: Alaska, 3; United, 3. Jan. 13: United, 4; Alaska, 1.
If you're flying Alaska or United soon, you can always check the currently scheduled aircraft via the airline's online flight confirmation.
Delta Air Lines, MSP's largest carrier, does not fly any 737 Max planes at all, although it does have an order for 100 of the newer Max 10 jets, slated to arrive in 2025.
The only international airline with Max 9 planes that serves MSP is Icelandair, with four in its fleet. When Icelandair resumes service from MSP to Reykjavik in April, the flights are scheduled on the Boeing 737 Max 8, not the Max 9. Icelandair told Reuters it is not affected by the grounding because its Max 9s have a different equipment configuration.
The older 737 Max 8 was grounded for nearly two years starting in 2019, after 348 people died in two crashes on Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines. The crashes were found to be related to the 737 Max 8's stabilization software. The planes were cleared to return to the skies by 2021.
As for the Max 9, Alaska Airlines plans to ground the planes through at least Saturday, but that timeline is likely to be extended.
