I read yesterday after UA found the loose bolts that UA's oldest a/c were coming up on the c check that occurs every 2-3 years. During that check, those bolts would have been inspected. Assuming that the door plug is also inspected during the c check on the 739s, all of those aircraft are old enough they should already have had their door plug bolts inspected at least once.

When can we expect every single MAX plane to be permanently grounded?

This will bring back more passenger confidence.

Never. If there is no passenger confidence, they will get converted to cargo or sold to sketchy 3rd world airlines.

From what I read, the door plug on the MAX-9 is the same or very similar design as to the one on 900ER. Delta was the last operator to take in a bunch of 900ER in 2019 just before the pandemic. Whether a design issue or an assembly quality control issue, I think the FAA (or even Delta itself) should ground the 900ER as well for inspection. On medium haul, it's hard to stay away from 900ER... Safety needs to be #1.

I was wondering the same. Could it be that Delta’s B737-900ER’s have been through the “C” and possibly the “D” checks?

Based on the timing of the failure versus the age and cycles of the plane, I think 900ERs are going to be safe from whatever defect is involved. I'd be shocked if this location hasn't already been inspected at least once on the entire 900ER fleet already. Assembly issues would be caught on inspection #1, and if they existed on 900ER it would be pretty damning if it showed up again on MAX9.

The recent WSJ article seems to suggest that any fuselage from Wichita since spring 2020 is of the "really poor QC" era, which would imply that -900ERs are fine (but are the other Maxes delivered in the past couple of years?)

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Haven't all of the 900s already gone through C checks that would mitigate any potential assembly issues?

Max 10 unlikely to be certified in 2024.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...deral-scrutiny

Hopefully this is enough for DL to get out of the deal

should NEVER be

I assume they got a further discount. Yay Delta.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/01/19/...-10-order.html

Isn't this surprising? Delta is like Boeing. Declining in quality pretty quickly.

The -10 neither has MCAS or door plugs (might be the best one out the bunch tbh). If Delta pilots are going to be flying it without hesitation, then I have no hesitation of being a passenger. Unless they are having a mental break, no one is going to work on something they believe is unsafe.

The MAX has a tainted rep from MCAS (rightfully so), but this current issue is a QC one and imho has zero to do with the actual aircraft; other than it being the current production model. Could have easily been a 739, if those were still in production and Spirit Aerospace was slacking. Boeing will take the full blame, regardless of which subcontractor caused the issue and rectify it.

No different to me than continuing to use Quakers Oats (insert any company that has had product issues) in the future, after their own qc problem this week.