Have you ever flown in a 737? I'll bet you have. Are you aware that at one point in the deployment of the 737 they had a "runaway rudder" issue [1] that caused two crashes and one near crash, and hundreds died from it? The 737 has flow millions upon millions of flights, safely, since then.

The problem will be addressed, and life will continue. It is tragic, and there will be major repercussions within the manufacturer and regulator but the design will be fine.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_rudder_issues

Most people don’t even think about the plane they’re flying in. It will not be that big of an issue to continue using them unless some group actively tries to warn passengers about flying in those specific planes.

It seems like this is becoming a concern now - per: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/07/barclays-downgrades-boeing-s...

The primary reason for the downgrade being:

Barclays’ survey of airline passengers says many people will avoid the 737 Max “for an extended period” once the aircraft is flying again.

Here’s my thought experiment on that: if I booked a flight to my vacation destination and, at the last moment, I discovered that I’d be flying in a 737 MAX, would I cancel my trip or pay a considerable amount of moment to get all our tickets changed?

I very likely would not. Would you? Would others?

It’s one thing to answer a question of a pollster, it’s another to take concrete action.

For a year after it is reinstated, my answer will be "yes, I'm changing my flight". Doubly so if my wife and child are on the plane.

Why? Because I'd be so unbelievably pissed at myself if the plane nosed itself into the ground, at least for the time it took to impact.

I also vote with my money.

Simple answer? I won't be flying airlines that use the 737 Max. Stick to the NG or pick up some 320's. Between work and personal travel for our family, that's over $50k of gross revenue per year (we both travel a lot for work). Maybe nobody else cares? I'm betting there are more people like me and my wife.

As others have stated, I will not be booking a ticket on a 737 max, period.

Granted I might not be a typical discount shopper, I pick flights based on comfort, not price and have checked the aircraft/airframe I will be in for years.

However, I have a tough time seeing anyone I know taking a risk with flying the 737 max for a 10% discount in fares.

Typically, fuel costs to the airline can be estimated at 10-20% of the ticket price on domestic flights (5 gallons per seat per hour). 737 Max is advertised as providing up to 20% in fuel cost saving, which would bring the cost to 4 gallons per seat per hour. Which should not affect a ticket price by more than $4-6 per hour of flight.

Are you suggesting that people aware of the issue will be wiling to risk their lives for a chance to save $8-20 to their destination?

And to add to that very few 737 Max are in service right now, only 300 or so of 5000 orders have been fulfilled. These supposed savings are not yet factored into the price of most tickets, they are future reductions at best. And likely these will not even be reductions, just a way for carriers to earn more per seat.

You are not guaranteed to fly on the model of airplane stated when you buy the ticket. This guarantee would be highly impractical because the airline would only have a limited ability to supply a replacement plane when the scheduled one is unavailable. So if push comes to shove, airlines will stop telling you what model of airplane they plan to use at all.

And we – those of us concerned and those who like voting with our feet – will stop using airlines with 737 max aircrafts in their fleet.

Considering how many airlines have max in their fleet it's not a viable tactic

You typically can see the type of plane on travel sites. If this wasn't the case I would buy from one that did.

In the case that I for some reason couldnt determine it ahead of time I would complain emphatically enough.

there's a lot of services to look up what aircraft is typically flying the route for the airline you're buying tickets for. Or even simpler route: look up the fleet page before booking.

Yeah, they say that, but when they get their non-refundable ticket and see it is in an 737 MAX. How many do you think will sue their airline claiming a refund?

The airframe is listed at purchase. I won't be suing. I just won't be buying.

Wherein an extended period of time is effectively forever.

Many people just sort tickets by cheapest and choose that as their flight.

Boeing could simply rebrand the plane. Take ‘MAX’ out of the name, call it a 737-8. I think most people have absolutely no idea what model of plane they’re flying on anyway.

That is a despicable, and dishonest thing to do, and there are people who are more than happy to act as repeaters to make sure people know Boeing's NewPlane (TM) is just a rebrand of the MAX, with a healthy dose of "this is how stupid Boeing thought you were."

Such a move would be ill-advised.