SeaTac travelers react to Boeing 737 MAX ground stop



SEATAC, Wash. -- Some travelers at SeaTac Airport say they’re breathing a sigh of relief after getting the news that all Boeing 737 MAX airplanes are grounded in the United States and Canada.

“It made me a lot more comfortable about flying today for sure,” said Stacey Speck, who was traveling at SeaTac Airport. “I don’t want to be on one by any means, it’s not comforting that I’m going to be on a flight that could possibly go down.”

Here in the United States, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and United Airlines all fly 737 MAX planes.

Impacted airlines are waiving fees and providing refunds for those passengers booked on MAX planes.

At SeaTac Airport, while officials say only a handful of flights are impacted by this change, passengers are being told to check with their airline just in case.

“I mean it’s just very scary to be honest, for something like this to happen.” said Southwest Airlines passenger Brandon Baluyot.

According to SeaTac Airport officials, only a handful of flights from Seattle were on Boeing MAX planes, and all of them were run by Southwest Airlines.

Southwest Airlines released a statement Wednesday that reads in part:

“We have removed our 34 MAX 8 aircraft from scheduled service. Southwest operates a fleet of more than 750 Boeing 737s, and the 34 MAX 8 aircraft account for less than five percent of our daily flights.”


Representatives with SeaTac-based Alaska Airlines say they currently don’t operate any 737 MAX planes, but they do have MAX 9s on order.

While officials at SeaTac Airport say overall operations have not been impacted by the FAA's ground stop, passengers are being told to check with their airline to be safe.

“Knowing that okay, this has happened it’s another escalation,” said Speck. “It’s another thing to have to worry about.”