World airlines are grounding Boeing 737 Max jets - again.
Among the first to temporarily ground 737s was American Airlines. American chief operating officer David Seymour said the company would "never knowingly operate an aircraft with a known potential issue."
American was the first airline in the U.S. to resume 737 Max flights late last year despite concerns raised by industry experts about safety.
Alaska Airlines has pulled its four Max aircraft while inspections are underway.
United Airlines said it was communicating with federal regulators and Boeing on what should be done to address the issue. The airline has temporarily grounded 16 of its Max jets.
Southwest Airlines said 30 of its 58 Max planes will be removed from the fleet for inspection.
Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish did say that so far, the airline has not yet experienced electrical problems that Boeing notified airlines of late last week.
The problem in question was announced by Boeing late Friday. The aircraft maker said it has "recommended to 16 customers that they address a potential electrical issue in a specific group of 737 Max airplanes to further operations."
The company said it is currently cooperating with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to address the potential problem, but it did not identify which specific airlines are affected by the issue.
Safety analyst David Soucie said the electrical issue raised by Boeing could have been a "catastrophic" setback since the company went as far as recommending that the planes in question be grounded.
Soucie said it was good the potential threat was detected before an accident such as a fire occurred while a 737 Max plane was flying.
The Boeing 737 Max put the company in the hot seat after two fatal crashes resulted in the deaths of 346 people. The American aircraft manufacturer settled to pay a $2.5 billion settlement in January for the crashes.
Meanwhile, Boeing is faced with another challenge from the Federal Aviation Administration, as the agency proposed that the company present an airworthiness directive for its 777 aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that the proposal was made after a report that "an operator found solid rivets with missing heads" of a specific 777-300 aircraft. Boeing reportedly acknowledged that the issue with rivets led to damage.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, missing rivet heads on the 777's sloping pressure deck web could result in multiple problems such as troubles with the wheel brakes' hydraulic systems, steering problems and drawbacks for the "structural integrity of the airplane."
