After a door panel on an Alaska Airlines-operated Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet blew off midair in January, Anneke Palmerton learned the carrier had canceled her flight to Orlando.
It did not surprise her as Alaska had decided to ground its fleet of MAX 9 aircraft after the Jan. 5 accident. Little did she know the incident would snowball, impacting air service in her city of Bellingham, Washington, and upending her winter plans to fly Southwest Airlines.Â
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