Originally Posted by robsaw

The problem is that the vast majority of passengers have no idea what aircraft they are on and don't care - UNTIL something like this MAX incident captures greater attention. Now they will be asking, at least for a while, what plane they are on and is that one that crashes and kills people. Yes, a PR problem.

I recall many years ago how often people would refer to any large airliner as a "747" - more a "kleenex" about brand dilution in a mildly flattering way as opposed to the 737MAX where there might be a wish that aircraft could apply for legal name changes.