How to avoid the 737 Max? Fly only airlines that don’t have it. Luckily there are still a few around in Europe. Since the two fatal crashes I have avoided doing flights with 737s.
But a 737 max is full no go for me no matter what the situation is. I will do multiple stops before stepping foot on one.
Personally I fly exclusively JetBlue in the US and they use Airbus almost exclusively. They have a few of whatever that other brand is. No Boeing.
The post-200 series 737s, not including the MAX, have some of the largest accumulated flight miles and lowest incident rates of any aircraft ever. The 777 and 747-400 also have exceptional safety records. Even the aging 757 and 767 fleets have only slightly higher rates. The 787, though relatively newer and with plenty of documented early issues has had no passenger fatalities that I’m aware of.
Just some food for thought.
it's the ones being delivered right now I'm particularly worried about
such as the two month old one here where the side fell off
But it’s a last choice for me, if the choice exists and I am willing to put up with some inconveniences.
Especially given that this seems to be a manufacturing problem and not a problem with the series itself, does have me worried about other planes even on those other lines if it is a fundamental issue with Boeing in recent years.
(I was actually under the impression this acquisition had happened until a few minutes ago)
> in April 2020 Boeing terminated the joint venture deal due to impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on aviation and market uncertainty. Embraer alleges that the financial impact of the Boeing 737 MAX groundings contributed to the demise of the deal
So, the deal was broken before both governments had time to decide if they allowed it.
(I do remember some of Embraer clients canceling orders in 2020. AFAIK, they are still bottlenecked by their manufacturing capacity.)
2. On search results[2], find the Departing flight you want
3. On the right-hand side of the flight summary, click the Down arrow ( \/ )
4. In the drop-down description, below each flight leg is the plane description and flight number.
5. Confirm all planes used for legs of both departing and returning flights.
First flight listed:
Departure:
SYR to CLT: American Economy Airbus A320 AA 1739
CLT to SFO: American Economy Airbus A321neo AA 1580
*Select departure to see return flights*
Return:
SFO to DFW: American Economy Airbus A321neo AA 2504
DFW to SYR: American Economy Airbus A320 AA 421
You can also find plane information at time of purchase, at least from the airline's website. I highly recommend booking direct at the airline's website, as [in the US] by law you have a 24 hour window to cancel your reservation with no cancellation fee.
[1] https://google.com/flights [2] https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhoeEgo...
Still, it definitely increases your chances of not flying on a MAX.
Virgin America had an all-Airbus fleet...until Alaska bought them and ditched the Airbus leases because 'Merica-Seattle-Boeing or something. (I'm sure they justified it as mechanical/maintenance efficiencies from operating a single type, but they made a bad mistake staying all-in on a failing company's product.)
Delta's famously agnostic - they fly whatever is net cheapest for them, even if it's an old airframe (that they own outright) that sucks fuel (rather than a more fuel-efficient plane that they lease). Boeings got cheap after the MAX problems. On the plus side, Delta is a very well run operation with competent maintenance.
And then there's Southwest. All Boeing, bad maintenance history. A culture that hates change and new technology.