In a year that is dominated by how COVID-19 ravaged the industry, there is a glimmer of hope that commercial aviation can hold on to. That would be the potential re-certification of the Boeing 737MAX that could happen as early as this month. However the general public still doesn’t have a vote of confidence as to flying on a 737MAX again. Due in part to this, here are my suggestions on what Boeing and the airlines can do to restore confidence in the 737 MAX brand.
Communication with Airlines and Customers
Over a year ago, I wrote about how one of the biggest issues Boeing had with its customers was the lack of communication between Boeing and their customers. That in turn would create a domino effect to which the airline wouldn’t know of the new changes that wouldn’t allow them to be more transparent with their customers about the plane’s safety. Boeing however has done a better job communicating their recent changes with their Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) on their website as well as proper training procedures for pilots flying the MAX. The more transparent Boeing is, the better it would be for customer satisfaction because all of the training requirements and changes are all transparent which would go a long way for Boeing to regain trust with their customers.
But what can airlines do on their end to restore customer experience with the 737 MAX? Recently, American Airlines started looking into this by starting customer tours open to the public in order to boost passenger confidence. This is a great first step to make passengers more reassured that they will be safe flying the type. In addition, airlines that own the MAX can start an online campaign via their website and social media to allow more transparency on how pilots are trained as well as making sure that every MAX in the fleet will only fly if the needed changes are completed. This would be similar to how airlines are marketing their transparency in regard to how they are dealing with COVID-19. And given that it worked well for airlines such as Alaska Airlines, it would go a long way for passengers to restore faith in the Boeing brand again. After communication between Boeing, their customers and travelers are established the next question would be what routes these planes can fly on?
Route Planning
So when it comes to route planning for a potential MAX reintroduction, which routes would make the most sense for airlines? Recently American Airlines is tentatively scheduling their aircraft to fly on their LaGuardia to Miami route around the end of December pending FAA approval. This makes sense because New York to Miami is a popular route for American and if the airline is confident flying the MAX from their hub in Miami to La Guardia, it would eventually carry over to travelers. And if passengers aren’t confident in flying a MAX there is another alternative to this. With the recent developments regarding COVID-19 vaccine results, it won’t be long before they will be needed to be distributed. Given that Miami International is already a leading hub for pharmaceutical exports, combine that with American Airlines’ role as a hub there, it’s a perfect opportunity for them to utilize the MAX to distribute across North America. By having dedicated vaccine cargo flights utilizing the MAX, it would allow pilots to become more familiar with the MAX without having to risk having passengers on board. For example, let’s say Pfizer has a batch of vaccines ready to go from New York. They would load them on special cold storage containers at LaGuardia and then an American flight from LaGuardia would fly them to Miami. Then in Miami, some vaccines can be distributed within Florida or go on another American flight to other cities in need such as Chicago or Los Angeles. It would be a fitting ending to the MAX saga if it would become the plane that saves the world from COVID-19 which would help boost positive PR for Boeing and the airlines flying the MAX. However, what if there are still skeptics that wouldn’t want to fly a MAX ever again?
Rebranding
If people are still skeptical about the safety of the MAX, what else could get people boost their confidence in the MAX? The answer might be as simple as rebranding the 737 MAX. It’s actually not the first time an airplane had to be rebranded to repair its brand image. When the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 suffered multiple crashes in the 1970s, the FAA had to ground the type. But when McDonnell Douglas had to modernize the design, they decided to rebrand the DC-10 as the MD-11 in order to restore confidence in the type. Even airline executives such as Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker and Kenya Airlines CEO Sebastian Mikosz along with political figures such as President Donald Trump suggested this idea as well. But if the MAX were to be rebranded, it would have to completely remove the “MAX” designation. For example the 737 MAX 8 would be now rebranded as the 737-8. As a matter of fact, the International Airlines Group (IAG) last year at the Paris Air Show when they intended to order 200 aircraft, they referred the 737 MAX 8 as a 737-8 instead. So there are some hints that some airlines are going to rebrand the MAX in order to boost confidence with travelers. Whether it produces results, we don’t know yet.
Conclusion
In summary, it looks like the 737 MAX will have a long way to go in restoring its reputation in the coming months ahead. But if Boeing can follow these guidelines, they will have a shot in restoring their brand image in the foreseeable future. But what do you guys think that Boeing and its customers should do to restore the brand image of the 737 MAX. Let me know in the comments below and keep looking to the sky!
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