U.S. fliers still consider ticket prices the most important factor when choosing a flight, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, suggesting two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets have had little impact on consumer sentiment.
In the public opinion poll released May 15, only about half of U.S. adults say they are familiar with the airplane crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that together killed 346 people, and only 43 percent could identify the Boeing 737 Max as the aircraft involved.
Most importantly for Boeing in the wake of the crashes, only 3 percent said that aircraft maker or model number was most important to them when buying a plane ticket. In contrast, 57 percent said ticket price was most important.
A Boeing spokesman declined to comment, but said the company is "committed to returning the Max safely to the skies so that pilots, crew, regulators and the traveling public have total confidence in this airplane."
During a call with investors last month, Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg said he knows "we have some work to do to earn and re-earn the trust of our customers and the flying public in particular.”
If global regulators clear the jets for flight, the Reuters/Ipsos poll data suggest that carriers likely will not have trouble booking seats on the aircraft.
Boeing's fast-selling 737 Max airliner was grounded worldwide in March after an Ethiopian Airlines crash, just five months after a similar disaster on a Lion Air flight.
Boeing's stock has fallen about 18 percent since the March 10 crash, and airlines have warned that the groundings are hitting revenues, and costs, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
"We don't book the plane, we book the place," said one traveler.
President Donald Trump urged Boeing to "rebrand" the 737 Max with a new name in an April 15 tweet, saying "No product has suffered like this one." That sentiment was echoed in a recent Barclays Investment Bank report that concluded that "a large portion of fliers are likely to avoid 737 Max for an extended period beyond when the grounding is lifted."
Barclays said it based its findings on a survey of fliers in North American and Europe, though it would not disclose to Reuters the survey methodology or questionnaire. It is unclear how Barclays selected its respondents and how much they were informed of the Boeing crashes before being asked their opinion.
Boeing declined to comment on the Barclays survey.
The Chicago-based manufacturer is the target of investigations and lawsuits, and is in regular discussions with U.S. airlines on how to regain public trust. Half of all U.S. adults say that airlines prioritize profits over passenger safety, nearly identical to the result in the April 2018 poll.
But based on the Reuters/Ipsos poll, even if people were aware of the 737 Max crashes, that knowledge is not likely to influence their travel decisions. People say they mostly consider ticket price when planning upcoming plane trips, followed by travel time, the number of stops and the carrier.
That does not mean all fliers ignore models, according to Steve Hafner, CEO of travel booking website Kayak. He said the website has seen significant usage of a plane model filter it introduced after the Ethiopian crash, showing demand from some travelers.
"As the news cycle on this simmers down and it becomes less top of mind for travelers, we've seen filter usage go flat. But that's not to say it won't pick back up once the planes start flying again," Hafner said.
"We don't book the plane, we book the place," said Allen Forrey, a 63-year-old truck driver who did not participate in the poll, after landing at Chicago's Midway airport from Phoenix, Arizona.