Boeing study: 40 percent unwilling to fly on 737 Max

After two crashes led to the deaths of 346 people, and the subsequent grounding of the 737 Max, Boeing has been working on ways to gain back the public trust they lost as a result.

For the past few months the company has been searching for ways to rebuild public confidence in flying on a 737 Max. To assess this they’ve surveyed thousands of passengers to gain an understanding, and found that 40 percent say they would not be willing to fly on the Max, reports The New York Times. Fifty-two percent say they are willing.

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The two recent crashes resulted in all 737 MAX jets being grounded. The Lion Air crash out of Indonesia resulted in the death of 189 people and the Ethiopian Airlines crash led to 157 deaths. It’s believed to be linked to an automated system that pushed the nose of the plane downwards.

Recently Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was ousted and replaced with the board’s current chairman, David Calhoun.

Strategies being considered for worried travelers include offering to rebook a ticket if a passenger doesn’t want to fly after booking, having flight attendants talk to the passengers about their concerns, and handing out cards detailing why the Max is safe to fly, reports the Times.

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Boeing also plans to engage in a social media campaign and buy ads to advertise the plane’s eventual return to service, and will use industry experts and pilots to bolster confidence, even laying out a plan to have Boeing executives onboard the flights.

“We know we have work to do to restore confidence in Boeing and the Max,” Gordon Johndroe, a Boeing spokesman said in a statement.

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