President Donald Trump said Monday that Boeing should “rebrand” its 737 Max airplane, which has been taken out of passenger service worldwide following two high-profile fatal crashes in recent months.
“What do I know about branding, maybe nothing (but I did become President!),” Trump tweeted at 6.29 a.m. ET. “But if I were Boeing, I would FIX the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, & REBRAND the plane with a new name. No product has suffered like this one. But again, what the hell do I know?”
The U.S. decision to ground all 737 Max aircraft came after several other countries around the world made the same move, and followed the crashes of Lion Air flight 610 (which came down off Indonesia last October, killing all 189 people on board) and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (which crashed on March 10 outside Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing all 157 on board). Both flights involved American planemaker Boeing’s new 737 Max model; the crashes appear to involve the model’s anti-stalling software.
The 737 Max was the fastest-selling plane in Boeing’s history, but the company’s stock dropped some 11% after the Ethiopian Airlines crash. With airlines continuing to cancel flights because of the ongoing grounding, it’s unclear how Boeing, or the air carriers that rely on the 737 Max, will resume normal operations.
