WestJet could face costly delivery delays due to panel blowout on Boeing plane

The fallout from a mid-flight panel blowout on a Boeing Co.-made 737 Max aircraft final month has reached Canada, as WestJet confronts indefinite delays on dozens of plane deliveries.

The Calgary-based provider purchased 42 Boeing 737 Max 10 jetliners in 2022, with choices for 22 extra — on prime of almost two dozen earlier Max orders nonetheless within the pipeline.

The multibillion-dollar offers had been slated to bolster WestJet’s fleet by at the least 65 planes — 50 of them Max 10s — by 2029 in a transfer the airline known as a “game-changer” that would cut back gas prices and “underpin” its development.

However, the Max 10 has but to obtain remaining certification, and after the panel incident, regulators stated they might halt any manufacturing growth at Boeing till a full investigation was full — a course of that would take over a yr.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration quickly grounded the 737 Max 9 and launched a probe after a panel referred to as a door plug tore away from the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines aircraft at 16,000 ft on Jan. 5, leaving a refrigerator-sized gap within the cabin wall and prompting an emergency touchdown.

WestJet says it continues to work carefully with Boeing on supply timelines and believes the expansion plan for its fleet has some flexibility.