By aviation writer Scott Mayman

AUSTRALIA has only has a handful of the controversial Boeing 737 Max jets.

This type of aircraft makes up the entire fleet of vacation airline Bonza.

Virgin has three in operation, but plans to introduce another 11 in 2024.

But this type of aircraft has again made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

An un-named airline found a part missing on one of the planes causing prompt inspections, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.

The problem seems to involve the rudder-control system, which handles the inflight vertical movement of the aircraft.

A nut that was not properly tightened was also allegedly found on a second undelivered plane.

January 10 is the deadline for all airlines to carry out the inspections.

Virgin has confirmed the inspections won’t impact operations.

Bonza CEO Tim Jordan has also confirmed the inspection will be carried out as recommended by Boeing and there’ll be no impact on operations.

In 2019, the Boeing 737 MAX was grounded worldwide after a malfunctioning flight control system caused two new aircraft to crash in Indonesia (Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018) and Ethiopia (Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019), killing all 346 people on board both flights.

Unclear training about new computer methods led to the jets being grounded costing Boeing more than $US20 billion.