Boeing 737-9 MAX flies out of SEA for the first time

Alaska Airlines is the first carrier to fly the Boeing 737-9 MAX out of SEA airport. The flight left SEA Airport bound for San Diego at 6:30 a.m. The departure was broadcast live on KIRO 7 News.

It’s a big milestone for the plane after it was grounded worldwide for nearly 2 years.

Back in January Alaska took delivery of its first Boeing 737-9 MAX as part of an effort to modernize the airline’s fleet.

This MAX plane is just the first of many more to come. Alaska reached a major agreement with Boeing in December to get 68 737-9 MAX aircraft over the next four years, with an option for about 52 more planes.

Alaska Airlines President Ben Minicucci said at the time, “This plane is a significant part of our future. We believe in it, we believe in Boeing and we believe in our employees who will spend the next five weeks in training to ensure we’re ready to safely fly our guests.”

There is a lot of training that’s going into this for Alaska personnel. Maintenance techs went through 40 hours of training. Pilots flew more than 50 flight hours, roughly 19,000 miles, across the country.

The pilots also received eight hours of computer training, including flight simulator training.

Cox Media Group