It appears that fears passengers would try to avoid flying on Boeing 737 MAX planes when they returned to service was just that: a fear. Now that the plane has been back in service for a few months, the anticipated 'MAX aversion' is a non-issue.
When the plane returned to service in December after nearly two years, United and American met the expectation head-on by identifying which flights were using the 737 MAX and offering passengers a free opportunity to switch to another flight or cancel. Last week, United removed the option, and while American hasn't, it is likely that it will before long.
A United press spokesperson told TravelGumbo that the reason for the change was simple: "Swaps were minimal." He added that while the flexibility is ending, the information is not: "Since the MAX was introduced back into our fleet in mid-February, we have been very transparent with our customers scheduled to fly on a MAX aircraft. We will continue that transparency with our customers during the booking process."
American's passenger experience is apparently similar, according to spokesperson Sarah Jantz, who told TravelGumbo that "There is no change to our flexibility policy," and that "Bookings on the Boeing 737 MAX are comparable to other aircraft, and we aren’t seeing data to suggest customers don’t want to fly the aircraft."
While the aircraft was grounded after two crashes attributed to a faulty control system, there was widespread speculation that Boeing and airlines might have to rename the plane, and that sales would suffer. The first didn't happen, and there have been several substantial orders in the past few weeks. A required check of electrical systems this past week on a number of planes is unlikely to change the situation.
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