NEW YORK: More travellers are checking the model of an aircraft before booking flights after a midair cabin blowout forced a new Alaska Airlines-operated Boeing jet to make an emergency landing and grounded more than 170 planes, several travel operators said.

A piece of fuselage tore off the left side of the 737 MAX 9 jetliner operated by Alaska Airlines as it climbed following takeoff last Friday, forcing pilots to turn back and land safely with all 171 passengers and six crew on board.

Regulators have since grounded 171 737 MAX 9 planes for safety checks while Alaska and United Airlines, which together have 70 per cent of the 737 MAX 9 fleet, have cancelled hundreds of flights this week.

The Alaska crew have been praised for swiftly landing the plane, with only minor injuries to those on board.

But photos on social media showing oxygen masks deployed and a portion of the aircraft’s side wall missing, as well as provisional checks turning up loose bolts in some grounded planes, stirred concerns it would dent passenger confidence in Boeing planes.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Tuesday acknowledged mistakes and told staff he and many customers had been “shaken to the bone”. Boeing must work to earn their confidence, he said.

On Thursday, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said passengers had not shown any concern about flying on Boeing 737 aircraft since the grounding.

Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers is one of Boeing’s largest customers and operates different variants of the 737 MAX from the type that has been grounded.

“We see no indication of any passenger concern ... not one passenger,” O’Leary said, adding that the biggest threat to the MAX came when it was grounded for nearly two years in 2019 following two crashes.

Even so, Booking Holdings-owned Kayak said it has seen a spike in the use of a filter on its website that allows customers to screen by plane model following last week’s incident.

It has moved the filter up on its website to make it more prominent and added the ability to check specifically for the 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 models. MAX 8 aircraft are still in service.

Internova Travel Group, which represents more than 100,000 travel advisers worldwide, has also seen more queries about plane models.

“The consumer who is aware of the situation is asking our agents, `is this an impacted plane?’ said Peter Vlitas, an executive at the company.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2024