While Boeing engineers and the FAA put the finishing touches on the software makeover for the Boeing 737 MAX, a potentially more daunting task has been handed to the company’s marketing department as it restores confidence in the aircraft. Some online travel agents have added filters to their search engines to alert customers if they’re scheduled to fly on a MAX and surveys suggest plenty of potential passengers will pass but some analysts say it will all blow over. “The consumer has a very short attention span,” George Ferguson, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, told The Associated Press. He noted there have been plenty of airliners that had early-service catastrophes and went on to commercial success. Others aren’t so sure.
Nick Cunningham, a founding partner at Agency Partners, said he’s concerned “this has become too serious and too protracted for the Max to escape unscathed” and that the world attention on the two fatal crashes of MAX aircraft and its aftermath “will have acted to permanently lock it into people’s memories.” Others reference safety issues with the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Corvair that killed those programs and continue to be cited in relation to the MAX. For its part, Boeing says it has no plans to change the name and it’s going full throttle for re-entry to service with a comprehensive program. “It’s a multifaceted approach to taking the steps necessary to preserve the fleet, return it to service safely and restore any lost confidence that pilots, regulators and the traveling public have had in the Max,” Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. A May 23 summit of operators and regulators will lay the groundwork for re-entry to service.
