April 4 (Reuters) - Alaska Air Group ( ALK ) said on

Thursday Boeing has paid an initial compensation of about

$160 million in the first quarter to address the financial hit

the airline took due to temporary grounding of 737 MAX 9 jets.

The payment is equivalent to the lost profits resulting from

an accident and grounding in Q1, Alaska said in a filing, adding

it expects additional compensation.

An Alaska Air ( ALK )-operated MAX 9 jet experienced a mid-air cabin

panel blowout in January, which led the U.S. aviation regulator

to order grounding of 171 jets for inspections. The grounding

was lifted later that month.

(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by

Shinjini Ganguli)