Federal officials on Saturday ordered the immediate grounding of Boeing 737-9 Max jetliners after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.
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An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a window and a portion of its fuselage shortly after takeoff three miles above Oregon late Friday, creating a gaping hole that forced the pilots to make an emergency landing as its 174 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.
No one was seriously hurt as the depressurized plane returned safely to Portland International Airport about 20 minutes after it had departed, but the airline grounded its 65 Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft until they can be inspected. The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it will also investigate.
I agree, but there are ways to be smart about it. Paying up front for first class usually means you get fucked, but if you upgrade just before the flight, you can often get a steep discount on first class depending on how booked the flight is. Airlines will let you look at a seat map, and that will give you an idea of how full the plane is and how many seats are available. Sometimes you will just have bad luck and the upgrade costs are similar to full price, but more often than not I’ve upgraded for pretty cheap, and a few times the cost of the checked luggage is the same as first class where checked is bundled.
It depends, and it’s stupid that there’s so many hoops, but in their infernal quest to fuck customers over, they created their own loopholes.