Irish-based aircraft lessors own some of the grounded Boeing 737 Max-9s jets

Irish-based aircraft lessors own Boeing 737 Max-9 jets subject to safety inspections following the mid-air blow-out of an emergency door, it has emerged.

The news comes as US regulators begin investigating whether Boeing failed to ensure that completed aircraft could operate safely.

The blow-out on a Boeing 737 Max-9 operated by Alaska Airlines at the weekend prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground and begin inspecting 171 of these jets until further notice.

Irish airlines do not fly the Max-9, but lessors based or operating here own numbers of the jet, many of which are subject to FAA inspections.

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Singapore-based Bank of China Aviation (BOCA), which has offices in Dublin, confirmed that it had 17 Max-9s leased to US carrier United Airlines, one of the biggest users of the aircraft.

The company said that any inspection or subsequent repairs would not affect lease payments or revenues as its contracts allow for lease payments “come hell or high water”.

Irish-headquartered SMBC, one of the industry’s biggest players with a fleet of more than 900 aircraft, said it had two Max-9s leased to Lion Air in Indonesia, both of which were grounded and being inspected.

SMBC also manages 11 Max-9s for third-party investors which are leased to Copa Airlines in Panama, of these six are grounded and subject to regulators’ scrutiny.

Five are not affected as they have a different exit door structure to the aircraft whose emergency exit panel blew off.

Copa Airlines itself confirmed earlier this week that in all, it had grounded 21 of its Max-9s to comply with the FAA’s instructions.

Air Lease Corporation, which also has offices in Dublin, announced in 2021 that it was leasing 13 Max-9s to Alaska Airlines.

The California-based company did not respond when asked how many of its Max-9s were grounded or if this would impact its business, but figures from trade publication, Airfinance Journal, indicate those aircraft remain leased to Alaska.

Airfinance Journal’s data also show that Irish giant Aercap Holdings owns three Max-9s.

Aercap did not respond to a request for comment. The Dublin-headquartered group, the biggest player in its industry, has more than 1,700 aircraft.

The New York Times and Financial Times reported on Thursday that the FAA told Boeing that it was beginning a formal investigation of the aircraft manufacturer.

The regulator says it inquiring if Boeing “failed to ensure completed products conformed to its approved design and were in a condition for safe operation in compliance with FAA regulations”, after learning of “additional discrepancies”.

Boeing responded that it would “co-operate fully and transparently with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board on their investigations”.

The Alaska Airlines flight had taken off from Portland, Oregon, on Friday and was flying at 4,900m (16,000 ft) when the panel tore off the plane, which had been in service for only eight weeks.

Pilots returned to Portland while passengers suffered only minor injuries in the incident.

The FAA says that public safety rather than speed will determine when the grounded jets return to service.