A brand new Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft about to be delivered to Ryanair has had some last minute changes made to its paint job - the removal of the word MAX.
The MAX brand is used by Boeing as part of its rollout of the new, state of the art 737s - but has now become synonymous with two fatal crashes involving the 737 MAX aircraft, which killed hundreds of people.
In April, President Donald Trump was ridiculed for suggesting the bad publicity and damaged reputation could easily be fixed by changing the name of the aircraft type.
"What do I know about branding, maybe nothing (but I did become President!), but if I were Boeing, I would FIX the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, & REBRAND the plane with a new name.
"No product has suffered like this one. But again, what the hell do I know?" the president tweeted.
Now, it appears at least one airline has taken his advice.
Although Boeing denies any involvement in the Ryanair painting, it hasn't ruled out a name change for the troubled airliner in the future.
"We remain open-minded to all input from customers and other stakeholders but have no plans at this time to change the name of the 737 Max," a spokesperson told media at the recent Paris Airshow.
Currently, all 737 MAX-8 aircraft are grounded while investigations continue into the two near identical crashes of a Lion Air flight in October, 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March, 2019.
Ryanair has 135 MAX aircraft, five of which were due to be delivered within a month.
Ryanair have been contacted for comment.
Newshub.
