Boeing should rename its 737-Max to deflect passengers’ concerns once the grounded jet returns to the skies, according to plane leasing-industry veteran Steven Udvar-Hazy.
The Max brand has been damaged by two fatal crashes last year, and there’s no reason for Boeing to retain it, Mr Udvar-Hazy — the founder and chairman of Air Lease Corporation — said at the Airlines Economics aviation finance conference in Dublin.
“We’ve asked Boeing to get rid of that word, ‘Max’,” Mr Udvar-Hazy said. “I think that word, ‘Max’, should go down in the history books as a bad name for an aircraft.”
Since there’s no reference to the Max brand, as such, in Boeing documentation submitted to regulators, the company can simply market the model according to the numeric variant, such as the 737-8 or 737-10, he said.
Air Lease is one of the biggest customers for the Max, with about 200 ordered.
Renaming the Max will help address public reluctance to fly on the plane, especially in more superstitious markets, according to Mr Udvar-Hazy.
He said airlines are working to understand what sort of customer reluctance, or defections to other models and carriers, they might face, and for how long.
“Is it going to be for two months, six months, is it going to be different in different parts of the world?” Mr Udvar-Hazy asked. “Will people in the US, after a few months, forget about the accidents and say, ‘Oh, it’s just another 737?’ Are there going to be parts of the world where people are, maybe, more superstitious and will it take longer for them to erase that stigma?”
Boeing is working with the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in the US, and airline regulators around the world, to re-certify the plane. Airlines expect commercial flights to begin around mid-year.
In June, Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s former chief executive, said that he saw no need to drop the Max brand.
That was after US president, Donald Trump, said, on Twitter, in April, that in Boeing’s shoes he’d rename the plane.
Last week, Mr Muilenburg was replaced as CEO by David Calhoun, a General Electric veteran.
Late last week, Boeing said it had identified a new software flaw in the grounded 737-Max that will require additional work, possibly further delaying the plane’s return to service. The company said it alerted the FAA and was notifying customers and its suppliers.