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Duffy Joins Alaska Airlines and Boeing for a Major Aircraft Order Announcement, Jan. 9, 2026

January 9, 2026 · US Department of Transportation · 0:22:03

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy joined Alaska Airlines and Boeing for what the Department of Transportation billed as a historic announcement, in the department’s January 9, 2026 upload. The event unveiled Alaska Airlines’ new global livery and a major order for additional Boeing 737 MAX and 787 aircraft. Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg, who hosted the event, described the order as the largest in Alaska Airlines’ history and as a doubling down of the airline’s commitment to Boeing, and he thanked Secretary Duffy for the department’s work on the safety and efficiency of the air traffic management system and on certification of new aircraft, as he stated it.

Duffy, in his remarks, joked that his first new word of 2026 was “livery” — “we call it a paint job in Wisconsin,” as he put it — and framed the order as evidence that American manufacturing is back: the aim, as he stated it, is to make the best products in the world in America and sell them around the world rather than importing them.

Why it matters

The Alaska–Boeing event is the aviation-manufacturing counterpart to the same month’s auto-plant swing: the Secretary of Transportation lending the department’s presence to a record order for American-built airliners, at the moment his department also holds the certification and air traffic briefs on which deliveries of those aircraft depend.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: Alaska Airlines’ largest-ever aircraft order, for additional 737 MAX and 787 aircraft, as announced with Secretary Duffy present on January 9, 2026. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation, “U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Joins Alaska Airlines & Boeing for Historic Announcement” (official upload, embedded above). Remarks as delivered at the event.