I flew on American's Boeing 737 Max and found the airline doing the bare minimum to inform passengers they were booked on the notorious plane
American Airlines is the largest Boeing 737 Max operator, averaging over 50 daily flights.
But passengers might be wary of the aircraft, which crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
I flew from New York to Miami on the Max and found American wasn't forthcoming about the aircraft.
American Airlines was the first US airline to fly the Boeing 737 Max after its 20-month grounding by the Federal Aviation Administration. Its first flight was on December 29, from Miami to New York.
The airline has been quickly reincorporating the Max. It had over 50 daily departures in February and plans to increase that to nearly 100 in March.
With no incidents since its ungrounding, the Boeing 737 Max saga appears to finally be over. The aircraft had flown more than 2,700 times as of late January, Boeing said, and more countries have approved its return to service.
But the aircraft remains infamous, and airlines are walking a fine line with transparency about the Max.
On the one hand, airlines want to make people aware that they're flying on an aircraft that crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. On the other hand, they don't want to scare people.
As the first US airline to fly the plane again, American was the first to tackle this challenge.
Here's what flying on an American Airlines Boeing 737 Max is like in 2021.
Our plane was a two-year-old Boeing 737 Max that had been delivered to American in December. Boeing has been clearing out its delivery backlog since the ungrounding, and a lot of airlines have received long-awaited orders.
I was flying on the same route - Miami to New York - on which American first launched the Max in 2018 and on which it relaunched the aircraft in December. Most of American's Boeing 737 pilots should know the route like the back of their hand.
American didn't hide the fact that we were flying on the Max, but you could see it only if you knew where to look. The aircraft type was shown in a small font when I was searching for flights ...
... after booking ...
... and when selecting a seat.
Unlike United Airlines, American didn't explicitly tell me when I tried to book a flight that I'd be on a Max. Both airlines are allowing passengers to change their flight for free if they don't want to fly on a Max.
At the airport, I couldn't find the Max name when I was printing a boarding pass ...
... reviewing trip details ...
... or selecting a seat.
Not even gate signage revealed our aircraft type.
American's gate agents now inform passengers of their aircraft in a general announcement. But if you arrived late or weren't paying attention, you might miss it.
Boarding began, and it was a nearly full flight, suggesting that the prospect of flying on a Boeing 737 Max wasn't too scary for most people. That, or they didn't know or care about the type of aircraft.
There were also very few opportunities during boarding to tell that this was a Max. The view of the aircraft was obstructed by the jetway ...
And there were no markings at the boarding door or in the forward galley. But that's common: Most airlines don't emphasize aircraft type on most models.
The passenger cabin consists of a 16-seat first-class cabin ...
... and a 156-seat economy cabin, with 30 extra-legroom "main cabin extra" seats.
The cabin is one of American's newest. It was part of the airline's "Project Oasis" aiming to add seats to the airline's narrow-body aircraft.
Each regular economy seat has 30 inches of pitch and is 16.6 to 17.8 inches wide.
Source: SeatGuru
First-class seats are large recliners with 37 inches of pitch and 21 inches of width.
Source: SeatGuru
I found my economy seat to be quite enjoyable for the three-hour flight to Miami.
This aircraft had Boeing's "Sky Interior" cabin with mood lights that change with each flight phase.
Overhead bins were also noticeably larger, as I was able to fit my jacket on top of my carry-on.
But for an ultra-modern plane, the seatbacks were noticeably bare. American, like United, opted for streaming entertainment instead of seatback screens on the Max fleet.
Amenities at the seat included a device holder ...
... a USB charging port ...
... an adjustable headrest ...
... and a 110-volt AC power outlet.
In-flight WiFi through Gogo was available with free Apple Music usage.
It's an incredibly modern interior with numerous amenities, even if it's missing seatback in-flight entertainment.
But the modern design didn't change the fact that we were on a Max, and the aircraft's interior gave no hints to the average traveler.
Not even the safety card gave any clues.
American's uses the 737 designation for both the Max and the Next Generation aircraft, as they're technically the same family. While accurate, it's a bit disingenuous.
Here's United Airlines' Boeing 737 Max safety card.
The flight was full, and it was clear the Max wasn't scaring away too many passengers.
Our plane looked nearly identical to the non-Max Boeing 737 next to us. A keen observer might notice the difference in wing tips - but once you're on board, the differences aren't immediately clear.
With the boarding door closed, it was time to take to the skies.
The two CFM International LEAP-1B engines started up, and we made our way to the runway.
Unsurprisingly, neither the flight attendants nor the pilots used the word "Max" during their announcements.
At that point, however, there's not much to be done; just before takeoff isn't the time to tell people that they're flying on a newly ungrounded aircraft.
The takeoff from LaGuardia was smooth and uneventful on the cold February morning.
I'll admit I was a bit nervous to be flying on the Max.
But as we climbed over New York City, my worries abated.
With the suspense of takeoff behind us, the flight attendants began the usual in-flight service. They distributed a snack bag with pretzels, a water bottle, and a sanitary wipe.
It appeared that this would be a normal flight.
Until we entered the clouds, that is. Turbulence rattled the plane worse than I'd experienced in over a year, and all the fears of flying on a Max came back to me.
Had this been any other plane, I could've accepted that this was just turbulence and that we'd be in no danger. But fear is irrational.
But the Max handled it well, and we were in clear skies again before I knew it.
I took a quick walk around the cabin. The turbulence didn't appear to have rattled too many passengers. Most were still asleep or seemed calm.
The Max does have some cool features - notably the mood lighting.
When it was time to land, orange lights illuminated the cabin to gently wake passengers.
Bright white lights then fully woke up the cabin for landing so we'd be alert in case of an emergency.
As Miami came into view, my worries about the aircraft vanished.
The rest of the flight was smooth as silk. We touched down on Miami's Runway 12.
I got a quick look at the updated cockpit shortly after landing. Pilots now receive four hours of training on a Max simulator in addition to about three hours of classroom training.
Airport signage did say it was a Boeing 737 Max 8. This varies from airport to airport. American's signage did not say the aircraft type.
Every safe Max flight like this one paves the way for American to rebuild its fleet to pre-March 2019 strength. But I did wish that the airline was more proactive in letting passengers know they're booked on the plane.
Read the original article on Business Insider