Nearly half of passengers are deliberately avoiding flying Boeing planes this summer and turning to digital tools to avoid purchasing tickets on Boeing flights.
DailyMail.com spoke to several travel industry experts who said almost half of customers are now avoiding Boeing planes following a series of safety issues.
One of the scariest incidents involved a door plug exploding on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 at 16,000 feet last January.
Aaron Sutherland, founder of travel agency Jetsetter Lifestyle, said there had been a “notable” change in customer sentiment towards Boeing planes.
Sutherland said: “In recent months, nearly 50% of our customer base has explicitly requested to avoid Boeing aircraft for domestic and international travel.
The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX Flight 1282
“Although airlines regularly swap planes to optimize their operations, these changes are often beyond our control as a travel agency.
“However, we have noticed a growing trend of passengers meticulously checking the aircraft type before their flight.
“If it’s a Boeing, especially the 737 MAX, we often receive urgent requests to adjust travel plans, even at the last minute.”
Several models of Boeing airliners exhibit door bursts and engine fires in flight.
Two crashes also killed 346 people from Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019 near the town of Bishoftu.
In a sign that the industry is losing confidence, Boeing received orders for only four new planes in May and, for the second month in a row, none for its best-selling 737 Max.
Boeing faces a “long road” to resolving safety concerns, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said last May.
In late February, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to develop a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality control issues” and barred it from expanding production of the 737 MAX.
Sutherland says passengers are particularly wary of the 737 Max, which “still sparks fear” after the plane was grounded by the FAA for 20 months until November 2020 after the two high-profile crashes – the longest Never recorded immobilization of an American airliner.
The plane was recertified by the FAA in December 2020, but following the Alaska Airlines incident (involving a Boeing 737 Max 9), customers are wary.
All 157 passengers and crew members died after the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed six minutes after takeoff.
Sutherland says: “We have several customers who categorically refuse to fly this model, regardless of the series or its updated safety record. »
Sutherland is CEO of Jetsetter Lifestyle, a California-based luxury travel company curating unique experiences.
Customers are turning to flight search tools that can exclude reservations on Boeing planes, particularly the 737 Max, says Hollie Mckay, travel expert and vice president of communications at HotelPlanner.
Flight search engines like Alternative Airlines allow users to exclude Boeing planes and particularly the 737 Max, McKay says — and travelers also choose airlines known for using Airbus models instead.
McKay said: “Following the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2018 and 2019, there was a strong perception among customers that Boeing aircraft, particularly the 737 MAX model, could be unsafe. .
“Safety concerns have flared again as a series of Boeing accidents have made headlines again this year, including the door explosion of an Alaska Airlines plane in early January.
“For many, flying is already a thrilling experience over which the passenger has little control, and the number of Boeing incidents – which are comparatively very minimal given the millions of flights that take place every day without a hitch – still seem pointless. risks when other options exist.
Boeing recorded two months of weekly aircraft sales
But McKay says she still personally uses Boeing Max planes and recently took four flights to Europe on Boeing.
She said: “I took note of the plane before boarding – something I never usually do, and that thought stayed with me until we landed.
“But at the end of the day, flying is still by far the safest mode of transportation.” This is due to strict regulatory oversight by authorities such as the FAA and ICAO, which enforce comprehensive safety standards.
“The aircraft undergo rigorous and regular maintenance and are equipped with advanced technologies and robust designs with multiple redundancies.”
In the March 2024 Airworthiness Directive (AD) proposal, the FAA warned Boeing of an “electrostatic discharge,” or static electricity hazard, near the center wing fuel tanks.
“This hazardous condition, if not corrected, could result in an ignition source inside the fuel tank,” the FAA said, “and a subsequent fire or explosion.”
The FAA specifically requested that new “electrical bonding” and “grounding” be installed to prevent short circuits or “electrostatic discharge” around an air intake system near fuel tanks of the central wing of the 777.
The warning was standard procedure for troubleshooting and does not mean flying the plane is dangerous.
The death of Flight SQ321 and the FAA warning join controversies already swirling over the aerospace giant and its “triple seven” planes.
This year also saw Senate testimony from Boeing whistleblower Sam Salehpour, who accused Boeing of taking shortcuts in building the 777.
“I observed Boeing workers using improper and untested methods to align 777 parts,” Salehpour, a former Boeing quality engineer, told Senate investigators.
“In one case, I even jumped on pieces of the plane to line them up.”
Pilot and CEO of The Jettly Flight, Justin Crabbe, says regaining customer trust will be an “uphill battle” for the company.
Customers think Boeing planes are dangerous. Many customers still doubted their safety, even after authorities allowed the planes to fly.
“People are questioning the company’s security culture and oversight.”