Brazilian Airline Grounds 11 More Boeing 737s After Search for Cracks

  • Latest action follows FAA-recommended inspections on NG models
  • With earlier grounding of Max, airline now can’t fly 18 jets
A Gol Linhas Areas Boeing 737-800 in Santiago airport, March 2018.Photographer: Fabrizio Gandolfo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
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One of Brazil’s most important airlines yanked 11 more Boeing Co. 737s out of service after conducting a search for cracks, creating a situation where one of the U.S. planemaker’s most loyal customers can’t fly 14% of its fleet.

Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA fell as much as 2.5% to 32.26 reais in Sao Paulo trading today, after the company said late yesterday it removed the jets, older models known as Next Generation planes, in a grounding that will affect 3% of its passengers through Dec. 15. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last week told operators of older 737 NGs to look for cracks in a structure that helps attach the wing to the fuselage.