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.
Please don’t read this as a defense of Boeing, especially the MAX series aircraft, but from a flyer-safety standpoint the statistics show most Boeing aircraft in operation today are extremely safe.
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.
I assume that a lot of people here want to avoid the 737s not necessarily because they're scared for their lives, but as a way to show disapproval to Boeing. Like, I won't avoid flying a 737 Max if it's the only option for flying, but I generally prefer to pick a different manufacturer if it's available. On a large scale, many people avoiding a specific aircraft model puts pressure on airlines to not start or continue ordering said model.
That is valid and that’s why I am not quite No Boeing.
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.
Embraer, the Brazilian-made aircraft. They're being replaced with Airbus A220s, which was called a Bombardier CSeries before Airbus bought Bombardier's airliner division.
> 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.)
Didn't it look like Brazilian government was almost 100% gonna have it called off because of the "hit" to national reputation? (losing one of their largest and most internationally famous powerhouses)
The ancients reached for divination methods when reason failed them. You on the other hand can write a quick python script with a random number source in it.
Just about every airline I’ve ever flown lets you see what kind of aircraft they’re using for the flight you book. It’s pretty easy to avoid flying on a 737 max if you want.
1. Go to Google Flights[1], pick your search options, click Explore
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
Looking through different options, I can see a United flight that connects from SYR to EWR that uses a Boeing 737 MAX 9 Passenger (UA1513). So I'm not picking that flight.
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.
It's usually accurate, but I've had planes changed on me a couple times. For example, there could be a delay that results in it being used for a different flight, and you end up with something else. Or if the plane you're supposed to fly has mechanical issues.
I don’t think that’s a legally binding guarantee, though. Last-minute changes for operational reasons do happen, and I don’t think you can expect compensation in that case.
Still, it definitely increases your chances of not flying on a MAX.
I'm bored while waiting for my flight to take off in KLIA2 airport that AirAsia uses as its base. Their whole fleet is A320s. If the A320sbwere to be grounded, this airline will be pretty much done for.
JetBlue has an all Airbus and Embraer 175 fleet. No matter what you book on B6 mainline, you're getting a comfortable airliner.
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.
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.