Alaska Incident: Which Indian airlines fly the Boeing 737 MAX?

The aviation industry has already witnessed two major incidents at the start of 2024. While a Japan Airlines flight crashed intoa Japanese Coast Guard aircraft,a Boeing 737 Max 9 flight of Alaska Airlines had its door blown off, prompting the airline to ground it for checks. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has also issuedemergency directives for the aircraft.

Here's everything you need to know about the Indian airlines that operate the Boeing 737 Max.

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Which airlines in India operate the Boeing 737 Max?

Akasa Air, SpiceJet, and Air India Express are the three airlines which operate the Max type. However, the FAA mandate does not affect Indian airlines as they do not use Max 9. All 40 registered aircraft in India are Max 8, with Akasa Air flying a sole Max 8200, the Hindustan Times reported.

Akasa Air has 22 Max-type aircraft, the most in the country. These are the only planes with the airline, implying that they function their entire network by flying the Boeing 737 Max 8 type. They currently fly to 16 destinations and are planning to add foreign destinations soon.

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SpiceJet and Air India Express have nine MAX-type aircraft each. Air Indian Express uses MAX8 for its newly launched flight from Bengaluru to Kannur, Trivandrum, Mangalore, and Varanasi. The airline also operates flights from Hyderabad to Amritsar and Lucknow using the MAX8. However, since it has several other options like B737NG, A320neo, and A320ceo, the routes for Max 8 are subject to changes.

Meanwhile, SpiceJet generally deploys these planes on international routes, like Dubai, Bangkok, and Jeddah. However, according to Flightradar24, the airline has used the Max type for domestic routes. These include flights to Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Pune, Darbhanga, Patna, Srinagar, Jammu, Kolkata, and Port Blair.

After the Alaska incident, India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered all Indian operators with the 737 Max 8 aircraft to check their functioning, especially the proper closing of all over-wing emergency exits. The DGCA ordered these checks as a precautionary measure.

The authorities examined four 737 MAX 8 aircraft operated by Air India Express, eight by SpiceJet and 20 by Akasa Air. The Indian regulator said there were no adverse findings, and the aircraft's performance was satisfactory.

In 2019, the DGCA banned the Boeing 737 MAX8 in India after the Ethiopian Airlines crash. However, they returned to India in 2021.

(With inputs from agencies)