Boeing sends 737 Max to brand rehab to avoid fate of Ford Pinto

CHICAGO - Boeing Co.’s 737 Max is about to join the list of brands trying to come back from ignominy. Analysts are digging into decades-old safety scares for clues to the future of the jetliner - and Boeing’s finances. There’s the Chevrolet Corvair rollovers that launched Ralph Nader as a consumer advocate in the 1960s, gas-tank explosions that sank Ford Motor Co.’s Pinto in the 1970s, and the Tylenol poisonings of 1982 that spurred tamper-proof packaging, reports Julie Johnsson for Bloomberg.

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The Intelligent Aerospace take:

May 13, 2019-Financial experts tell Bloomberg's Johnsson that Boeing will have a tough row to hoe once a software fix is implemented in the 737 MAX 8 passenger aircraft as nearly half of those surveyed would avoid flying on the jet for a year or more after it is implemented. That doesn't exactly inspire confidence in carriers to put in orders for additional MAX jets, despite their previous popularity prior to a pair of fatal crashes tied to the jet's MCAS flight control. It is noted in the article that both Ford and Chevrolet survived consumer confidence issues surrounding their vehicles, though the Pinto and Corvair, respectively, did not.

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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace

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