Boeing Quality Issue Delays Alaska Airlines' Converted Freighters

The service is designed to streamline Alaska's supply chain since many of the groceries, household goods and medicine shipped into the state come from Southern California. It is the first time Alaska Airlines' freighters have flown beyond Alaska and Seattle.

Alaska Air Cargo officials in February said two Boeing 737-800 converted freighters leased from Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management would be ready to enter service in mid-March, after painting and other remanufacturing details were completed. Boeing BA partners KF Aerospace in British Columbia and Coopesa in Costa Rica used a Boeing design and materials to reconfigure the former passenger aircraft for cargo. Coopesa delivered its finished freighter to Alaska Airlines in November.

An SEC filing on Feb. 14 with 2023 results said Alaska Airlines ALK expects to add a second 737-800 freighter to its fleet in the first quarter.

Adam Drouhard, managing director for cargo, provided an update on March 28 in the company's online newsletter, in which he said the planes would enter service in the next few weeks. "We are working closely with Boeing to ensure that our new 737-800 converted freighters will perform at the level required to serve our customers" he wrote. 

The timetable changed again on April 26. "Both aircraft have required further conversion work before they can be put into service. We expect to have one in service in early May and the second early this summer" a spokesperson said in a statement to FreightWaves. The representative declined to explain what caused the delay, but sending back a newly rebuilt plane is highly unusual.

Neither plane is operating. The new 737-800 freighters were supposed to inaugurate freighter operations beyond Seattle, Alaska Airlines' home base, and Alaska. Instead, aircraft tracking site Flightradar24 shows Alaska Airlines began twice-weekly service between Seattle and Los Angeles International Airport last week with the 737-700 converted freighters it has operated for several years. 

And Flightradar24 data further shows that the aircraft delivered in November actually flew for five days in early February to cities in Alaska and then to Seattle before ending up at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, where Boeing has a facility that performs specialized repairs, maintenance and modifications on Boeing aircraft. ComAv Technical Services, which performs heavy aircraft maintenance, inspections and modifications, is also an airport tenant.

The conversions were originally scheduled to be completed last year but were delayed by persistent supply chain problems and labor shortages plaguing the entire aftermarket freighter industry.

Adam Drouhard, managing director for cargo, at the AirCargo 2024 conference in Louisville, Ky., on Feb. 12, 2024. (Photo: Eric Kulisch/FreightWaves)

Boeing also declined to comment on the situation. KF Aerospace referred inquiries to Alaska Airlines.

Boeing has been under intense scrutiny for years because of production glitches and concerns over manufacturing quality with the 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner programs. The troubled planemaker has been working to rebuild public confidence since 346 people died when two Max 8 planes crashed in 2018 and 2019. The latest crisis occurred  in January when a false door on a new 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines blew out in midflight. Investigators subsequently determined that contractor Spirit Aerosystems had used damaged rivets in the fuselage, requiring the door plug to be removed for repairs at Boeing's assembly plant in Renton, Washington. Spirit Aerosystems SPR workers who conducted the repair failed to reinstall four bolts holding the door, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Global Crossing Airlines JETBF recently disclosed that an Airbus A321 converted freighter it was operating had to be returned to the airframe overhaul firm that did the conversion to fix a cargo door that was not sealing properly. 

737-800 expands cargo opportunities

With their extended range and capacity, the newly retrofitted 737-800s will help Alaska Air Cargo improve delivery times, reliability and efficiency, while reducing the heavy workload of the 737-700s. 

Each 737-800 freighter can carry 10,000 pounds more than a 737-700. The -800s have 40% more space than their predecessors because their configuration can hold more containers. 

With five freighters in the fleet, Alaska Air Cargo will be better able to deliver medicine, household goods and fresh food to communities in Alaska, many of which have limited road access, while also moving seafood and other export commodities to cities across North America with passenger services that connect in Seattle and Los Angeles. 

Drouhard said in a February interview that Alaska Airlines will have about 70% more capacity to serve the state of Alaska. A larger freighter fleet will enable Alaska Air Cargo to make more direct, dedicated flights to communities in Alaska. Bethel, Juneau and Sitka will be among the first communities to benefit from the bigger freighters and more frequent service, according to the company.

Management previously said the new Los Angeles destination will initially be connected to Alaska through Seattle, with direct flights between Los Angeles International Airport and cities in Alaska starting in 2025. Alaska Airlines currently averages three daily departures from Seattle to Alaska.

Alaska Airlines has been moving more retail goods and perishable products from Southern California to Alaska during the past year, and the northbound freighters are timed to provide same-day or next-day service to stations across the state, it said in the latest edition of its "Cargo Connections" blog. Southbound flights from Alaska give shippers more options to move salmon from Bristol Bay, geoduck clams from Ketchikan and halibut from Yakutat to the Los Angeles metropolitan area. 

Seattle and Los Angeles are both hubs for the aerospace, biotechnology and other industries. The ability of the 737-800s to carry larger, palletized parts and bulky machinery creates the opportunity for new overnight service between the cities with time-critical shipments. Alaska Air Cargo said it has expanded its LAX warehouse hours, now open around the clock, to expedite drop-offs and pickups for overnight shipments.

The new freighters must be certified for flying long distances over open water for new nonstop routes such as King Salmon, Alaska, to Seattle. 

Cargo revenue at Alaska Airlines was $128 million in 2023, $5 million less than the prior year. A more detailed representation of the company's first-quarter earnings posted on Friday showed $28 million in cargo revenues, $1 million less than the same period last year. 

Cargo represents 3% of total airline revenue at Alaska Airlines, down from 4% in 2021.

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