PARIS, June 17 (Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Monday it had no plans to change the name of the 737 MAX after news reports that it would be prepared to do so to improve its future marketing.
“Our immediate focus is the safe return of the MAX to service and re-earning the trust of airlines and the traveling public,” a spokesman said in an emailed statement.
“We remain open-minded to all input from customers and other stakeholders, but have no plans at this time to change the name of the 737 MAX.”
Bloomberg News earlier quoted Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith as saying that if Boeing needed to change the brand it would “address” that. The report also said Boeing executives insisted they had no immediate plans to drop the MAX name.
CNBC also reported the comments.
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Boeing on April 15 to “Rebrand” its 737 MAX jetliner following two fatal crashes.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson, Tracy Rucinski, Edited by Tim Hepher)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the debut of the Boeing South Carolina Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner in North Charleston, South Carolina, U.S., February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday urged Boeing Co to
fix and “rebrand” its 737 MAX jetliner following two fatal crashes, as
regulators worldwide continue to work with the planemaker to review its
grounded best-selling aircraft.
The
Federal Aviation Administration has been meeting major airlines and
convened a joint review with aviation regulators from other countries,
while federal prosecutors, the U.S. Department of Transportation
inspector general’s office and a blue-ribbon panel are reviewing the
plane’s certification.
In
an early-morning post on Twitter, Trump, who owned the Trump Shuttle
airline from 1989 to 1992 and is an aviation enthusiast, weighed in with
his own advice.
“What
do I know about branding, maybe nothing (but I did become President!),
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?”
Trump tweeted.
The
plane’s grounding has also threatened the U.S. summer travel season,
with some airlines removing the 737 from their schedules through August.
Trump
issued the tweet as Boeing tries to restore trust in its
fastest-selling jet, the main source of profits and cash at the
Chicago-based planemaker which has won some 5,000 orders or around seven
years of production for the aircraft.
Chief
Executive Dennis Muilenburg has apologised on behalf of Boeing for
lives lost in two recent accidents and promised that it would address
the risk that flight software meant to prevent the plane stalling could
be activated by wrong data.
Boeing
has also held dozens of briefings and simulator sessions for airline
executives and pilots and held worldwide meetings with airline branding
and communications staff.
Pilots
are expected to play a major role in regaining public confidence in the
aircraft, but Trump’s tweet marks the first time the brand underpinning
Boeing profits in coming years has been thrown into question at a high
level.
Brand
Finance, a UK-based consultancy that tracks the value of global brands,
rejected the idea that Boeing should abandon the MAX brand but said its
corporate reputation was in the firing line.
“This
has without a doubt damaged Boeing’s reputation and we foresee a dent
to the (Boeing) brand’s value at over $12 billion (£9 billion),” Chief
Executive David Haigh said by email when asked about Trump’s comments.
“This
is a temporary blip in the long run for Boeing,” he said, adding Toyota
and others had recovered from similar high-profile crises without a
drastic rebranding exercise.
Brand
Finance had previously estimated the damage to the value of Boeing’s
reputation at $7.5 billion immediately after the March 10 crash of an
Ethiopian Airlines jetliner, the second fatal accident involving the 737
MAX in five months.
Boeing
has the world’s most valuable aerospace brand, having seen the value of
its overall corporate image rise by 61 percent to $32 billion in 2018,
according to the same branding firm.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Tim Hepher; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Toby Chopra)
