WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said late on Friday it will require inspections of 40 Boeing 737 MAX 9 airplanes and will review data from those checks before allowing the planes to resume flights.

The announcement will push any resumption of flights into next week at the earliest.

The FAA grounded 171 MAX 9 airplanes on Saturday after a mid-air cabin panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines MAX 9.

The FAA added it is "encouraged by the exhaustive nature of Boeing’s instructions for inspections and maintenance." The FAA said after a full review it will make a determination whether Boeing's instructions satisfy compliance requirements. (Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Chris Reese)