Ethiopian carrier rethinks 737 Max purchase, citing 'stigma'

Ethiopian Airlines is reconsidering its order for 25 additional 737 Max jetliners from Boeing, in part because of the “stigma" surrounding the aircraft involved in two fatal air disasters in five months -- one of them an Ethiopian Airlines flight. “We may reach the decision: Look, we just had a very tragic accident a few weeks ago, and customers still have the accident in their mind. So it will be a hard sell for us to convince our customers,’’ CE Tewolde GebreMariam said. Ethiopian won’t take delivery of its remaining 25 ordered 737 Max aircraft right now – or perhaps at all, Tewolde said. A decision on the 737 Max purchases will come after Boeing offers a software fix to a system implicated in both crashes and seeing what regulators and other airlines do, he said. “Our situation is quite different from the others, because we are the victim," Tewolde said. “You can imagine the stigma that will be attached with the airplane.” He said the airline will need to convince pilots and customers before resuming use of the aircraft. Ethiopian has ordered 30 of the 737 Max jets and taken delivery of five, including the jetliner that crashed soon after taking off from Addis Ababa, Tewolde said. The plane, Boeing’s best seller, is grounded worldwide. GebreMariam said the airline will listen to aviation regulators around the world, in addition to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, as it considers resuming 737 Max flights. “We are part of the global airline community, waiting for the fix, and waiting for the fix to be certified by FAA and also the other regulators” including those in Europe, China and Canada, GebreMariam said. Story has more background.<br/>