Airline officials are confident that passengers won’t shun the plane once the grounded jet is approved to fly again by regulators around the world.
Southwest has done a lot of research about passengers’ willingness to fly on the plane once it is back in service, and a majority plans to fly it as often as before the grounding, Nelson said.
A small percentage — he did not say how many — is unwilling to fly the plane, but that is roughly balanced by those who say they’re more likely to fly the Max because they believe it will be safer than other jets after undergoing so much scrutiny.
Widespread reluctance to fly the Max
Outside surveys conducted soon after the grounding last year suggested there is widespread reluctance by passengers to fly the on the plane.
A survey of 1,757 fliers conducted by Barclays in May and found that 21% of them said they would never fly on a Max. Another 23% planned to wait a year or more. Only 19% said they would fly on the plane immediately, and 17% were unsure when they’d be willing to do so.
In addition, 52% said that if given the choice between a 737 Max and another aircraft type, they would choose the latter. Barclays downgraded shares of Boeing from an overweight, or buy recommendation, to equal weight or neutral after completing that survey.
“Travelers aren’t merely scared of the 737 Max, they’re terrified of it,” said Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research.
Atmosphere’s research has found that 20% of business travelers and 24% of leisure travelers said they were extremely unlikely to fly on a 737 Max during its first six months back in the air.
Will passengers get past their fears once it is actually in the air?
Harteveldt, however, thinks that attitudes towards the plane will soften once it’s been given a clean bill of health by the FAA and the various pilots unions whose members are flying it. But he added that the prevalence of social media makes recovery from the 737 Max crisis more difficult to predict. He expects passengers to book away from 737 Max flights, at least initially.
“The airline will say, ‘we’ll get you off the Max, but the only way to get there isn’t a non-stop, it’s two regional jets flights that will take you hours more to get there,” said Helane Becker, airline analyst with Cowen. “That could change people’s willingness,” said Becker.
“I would walk before I would get on a Boeing 737 Max,” said Senator Jon Tester at a Senate hearing in October about the plane.
Source : CNN