The 737 Max 9 flown by Alaska Airlines on Friday was delivered less than three months ago. United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, the largest operators of the 737 Max 9, on Saturday said they suspended flights with those planes, forcing the carriers to cancel more than 400 flights. Boeing's leadership has spent roughly five years regrouping after the 2018 and 2019 fatal crashes of its smaller and more popular Boeing 737 Max 8, which prompted a worldwide grounding of both the Max 8 and Max 9, the two types flying commercially. According to Jefferies, the 737 Max 9 represents just 2% of Boeing's backlog of more than 4,500 Max planes. Richard Aboulafia, managing director at aviation consulting firm Aerodynamic Advisory, said the problem on the Alaska Airlines plane appears to be a manufacturing defect, not an inherent design flaw.

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Persons: Jason Redmond, Max, Jim Hall, I've, we've, Dave Calhoun, Calhoun, he's, Jennifer Homendy, Aerosystems, John Goglia, Jefferies, Richard Aboulafia Organizations: Reuters Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, National Transportation Safety Board, Boeing, United Airlines, Regulators, Airbus, hasn't, Wall Street, NTSB Locations: Renton , Washington, Portland , Oregon, Ontario , California, Portland, United, Alaska