If it's Boeing, are you going? Why travelers are wary of the Max line, but airlines aren't

In the wake of the latest Boeing 737 Max fiasco – a weekslong grounding following the explosive decompression of an Alaska Airlines flight in January – a lot of passengers are inverting that old mantra “if it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going.”

Duc Vu, 41, was already wary of flying on the 737 Max 8 after its second crash in 2019, but the most recent incident confirmed his feelings about the aircraft family.

Boeing has pledged to be transparent and strengthen safety. “But for me, it’s too little, too late,” the Philadelphia management consultant told USA TODAY.

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Vu has tried to avoid the 737 Max line when he flies, even switching his go-to carrier from Southwest Airlines to American due to the higher number in the former’s fleet (though neither fly the Max 9 variant involved in the January incident). “In light of everything that happened with the Alaska flight, I felt very validated in my decision-making,” he said.

Vu is hardly alone. Social media is littered with posts from travelers who say they want to avoid Boeing 737 Max jets in their future travels.

Travel booking company Kayak even included filters on its flight search page that allow passengers to exclude itineraries with certain aircraft types.

But for most travelers, it may be tough to decode what kind of plane is operating their flight because, ultimately, airlines – not passengers – are Boeing’s customers. Travelers may not have much say over what kind of plane they’re boarding once they’ve decided to fly somewhere.

Most experts suggest there’s no reason to worry, though. Many point to the excellent overall safety record of aviation in the U.S., and airlines that fly the Max say they’re sticking with Boeing, even as regulators increase oversight of the company’s production lines.

Is the 737 Max safe?

The Boeing 737 Max’s shadowed reputation isn’t random. Soon after the aircraft type entered service, two major crashes left 346 people dead. The line of planes was grounded for nearly two years as Boeing and regulators addressed a software issue that was ultimately implicated in both disasters.

Once the planes were back in the air, there were no major safety concerns until Jan. 5, when a door plug covering an unused emergency exit ripped off during an Alaska Airlines flight. No one was injured, and the flight returned to Portland, Oregon, safely, but the incident once again led regulators to ground some Boeing 737 Max jets – this time only Max 9 variants with the same door plug; 171 aircraft in all – until the cause of the issue was identified.

The grounding lasted about three weeks, and many affected Max jets are already back in service after undergoing required inspections.

The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report on Tuesday, suggesting that four bolts meant to hold the door plug in place on the Alaska Airlines jet were missing at the time of the January incident, though the agency said the investigation remains ongoing.

But even after the 2019 grounding, which resulted from much more catastrophic issues, passengers kept flying Max aircraft when they returned to service.

“There’s no evidence whatsoever that people were deterred from flying,” Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst and managing director at Aerodynamic Advisory, previously told USA TODAY. “At the end of the day, airlines are keeping the faith.”

While the National Transportation Safety Board has not yet issued its final report on the Alaska Airlines incident, the lifting of the grounding suggests regulators are satisfied that the door plug was the primary cause of the problem and that the required inspections are enough to rectify any future issues with Max 9s.

Casey McCreary, a Portland-based body piercer, had anxiety about whether Boeing planes were safe in the wake of the incident. But she said those fears won’t dictate whether she flies or which airline she chooses.

“It does feel like it would be impractical to avoid them, but also, them having so many planes out there that haven’t had these issues does help a little bit,” she said.

Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, the main operators of the Max 9 in the U.S., said their inspections turned up similar manufacturing defects in other planes affected by the grounding, and the Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing’s production processes in the wake of the incident.

However, in public statements, regulators insist the Max 9 remains extremely safe.

“Our findings during inspections of those aircraft showed that the quality system issues at Boeing were unacceptable and require further scrutiny,” FAA administrator Mike Whitaker said in a congressional hearing Tuesday. “We will follow the data and take appropriate and necessary action. The safety of the flying public will continue to inform our decision-making.”

Michael Whitaker, Administrator of the FAA, testifies in front of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee on Tuesday. Whitaker said he would continue to emphasize safety as agencies and airlines continue to scrutinize the manufacturer’s operations.

Did Boeing damage its reputation with its clients?

Airlines are certainly frustrated by Boeing’s manufacturing issues, but they seem satisfied that the planes they’re ordering are safe.

“They’re going through a rough patch right now, but I believe that Boeing is, across the board from top to bottom, is committed to changing and fixing it,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said during the airline’s January earnings call. “There’s no one that’s a bigger supporter that wants Boeing to succeed outside of Boeing than me, and I’ll do everything I can to help.”

Cruising Altitude: I’ve covered Boeing’s 737 MAX for years. Here’s a quick rundown of the issues.

Alaska Airlines, which operates an all-Boeing fleet for mainline aircraft, was similarly bullish on the manufacturer in its January earnings call.

“As a longtime valued partner, we remain fully committed to our relationship with Boeing, but we also intend to hold them accountable,” CEO Ben Minicucci said. “There is work to be done, but we have the utmost confidence with FAA oversight as well as our own that Boeing will emerge with improved quality processes as a better and safer manufacturer.”

McCreary, 33, still has doubts. But even if an upcoming flight was scheduled on a Max 9, she figured now might be as good a time as any. “I feel like, statistically, it might be the safest plane to fly on because of how heavily they’ve been scrutinized lately,” she said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: If it’s Boeing, are you going? Why travelers are wary of the Max line, but airlines aren’t