The snowstorm that hit the Pacific Northwest last week dropped more than a foot of snow at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and left airlines struggling to maintain their schedules.
Hit both by the grounding of the 737 MAX and the global pandemic that paralyzed its airline customers, Boeing suffered a massive net loss last year.
Financial results released Tuesday by Alaska Air, parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, show total revenue down 64% and an unexpected loss of $430 million in the final quarter.
Alaska plans to have its first MAX enter service in March, with five more by summer 2021 and another seven by year end.
The transaction indicates that airlines willing to take new jets in the middle of a historic aviation downturn can get excellent discounted deals.
According to an internal memo sent Sunday to Alaska Airlines pilots, the carrier plans to take its first 737-9 Max delivery early next year and start flying it in service by the end of March.
He will be succeeded by his second-in-command, Ben Minicucci, Alaska Airlines' president and also a member of the Alaska Air board.
The flight included activation of the flight control software that went wrong on the MAX crash flights in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.
The allegations shine a spotlight on how FAA oversight is delegated to Boeing.
Starting Friday, any passenger unwilling or unable to wear a mask for any reason while at the airport will not be permitted to board a flight.
The layoffs would represent about 20% of the airline’s employees in Washington and include customer service agents, flight attendants and maintenance technicians.
Due to the collapse in demand for airliners, Boeing says, it will cut widebody jet production rates in Everett and will consider closing the 787 Dreamliner assembly line.
