Boeing Pays Alaska Airlines $160 Million in Compensation for the Blowout of a Panel During Flight

Alaska Airlines says Boeing has paid the carrier $160 million in “initial compensation” for a panel that blew out of an Alaska Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner in January.

The airline said Thursday that it expects additional compensation, the terms of which it said are confidential.

The payment covered Alaska’s pretax loss related to the accident, including lost revenue and the cost of returning its Max 9 fleet to service after the planes were grounded for three weeks.

The airline described the compensation in a regulatory filing.

Boeing declined to comment on Alaska’s filing. A spokesman referred to comments that the company’s chief financial officer, Brian West, made last month. “Customer consideration” after the accident will affect Boeing’s financial results, he said, but didn’t give any numbers.

A panel that plugs a gap left for an extra emergency exit blew off an Alaska Max 9 as it flew 16,000 feet over Oregon on Jan. 5. Pilots were able to land safely, and no one was injured.

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