August 4, 2000, SEATTLE -- Alaska Airlines today announced that it has completed the reinspection of jackscrew endplay on 17 MD-80 aircraft that were grounded after the airline learned that a company-manufactured tool used to conduct the tests could -- if positioned improperly -- yield inconsistent results. The new inspections were conducted with a tool made by The Boeing Company. No problems were found and all 17 aircraft have been returned to service. 

The aircraft were inspected throughout the night and early today in Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco and Phoenix. Alaska’s fleet consists of 92 aircraft, 34 of which are MD-80s. In order to complete the testing, Alaska canceled a total of 48 flights over a two-day period. The airline operates an average of 500 daily flights. Passengers were re-accommodated in a variety of ways, including on other Alaska flights; on other airlines’ flights; and on Alaska nonstop flights that were turned into one-stop flights. “We sincerely apologize to our customers for any inconvenience they may have experienced over the past two days,” said John Kelly, chairman and chief executive officer of Alaska Airlines. “But we also know that everyone would want us to err on the side of caution.”