Boeing's door plug blowout cost airlines. Big time.
Both Alaska and United Airlines reported quarterly losses this week.
But the airlines' bosses said they would've turned profits if it weren't for Boeing's door plug fiasco.
Alaska said it received $162 million from Boeing in compensation for the damages.
The Boeing door blowout in January tanked Alaska Airlines' first quarter earnings — and it's not the only airline to have been hurt by the incident.
Alaska said Thursday its results were "significantly impacted" by the door plug blowout and subsequent grounding of its fleet of 737-9 MAX planes.
Alaska reported losses of $132 million in Q1. But, excluding the grounding impacts, the company said it would have posted $5 million in adjusted income before taxes.
Alaska said it received $162 million from Boeing as "initial cash compensation" for the damages.
"Despite significant challenges to start the year our results have far exceeded initial expectations," CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement.
In addition to Alaska Airlines, United Airlines also reported significant losses that it said were related to the door plug incident. The airline said Tuesday its Q1 results were down $200 million because of the Boeing grounding — without which it said it would have turned a profit.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
On January 6, Alaska Airlines grounded its entire fleet of Boeing 737-9 MAX planes after one lost part of its fuselage mid-flight. The incident led to the resignation of Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and other top executives.
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