One of the world's largest airlines appears to be rebranding its Boeing 737 Max jets as customers say they don't want to fly on the plane after 2 fatal crashes
One of the world's largest airlines seems to be rebranding its Boeing 737 Max jets.
An aviation blogger and photographer shared a photo appearing to show a Ryanair plane with the "737 Max" text replaced with "737-8200," which might come from the 737 Max 200 model that Ryanair ordered.
Ryanair, along with many other airlines, has expressed confidence in Boeing but is looking for compensation as the plane remains grounded around the world.
People seem less confident about flying on the planes, and airlines are finding different ways to accommodate them and soothe these fears.
One of the world's largest airlines appears to be rebranding its Boeing 737 Max jets as customers say they don't want to fly on the plane after two fatal crashes.
Woodys Aerospace, a blogger and photographer based in Renton, Washington, where Boeing has a factory, on Sunday shared an image appearing to show a Ryanair jet with the "737 Max" writing on the side of the nose replaced with "737-8200."
Ryanair had ordered a version of Boeing's 737 Max 8 plane called a 737 Max 200, and it's possible that "737-8200" is a mixture of the two names without the "Max."
7629 EI-HAY 737-8 200 @Ryanair has been painted and wears the new model designation on the nose. pic.twitter.com/Ok7jdyYsNR
— Woodys Aeroimages (@AeroimagesChris) July 15, 2019
Ryanair didn't immediately respond to a request from Business Insider for confirmation that it had rebranded its 737 Max jets. Boeing declined to comment on the apparent rebranding.
Michael O'Leary, the CEO of the Irish airline, has continued to express confidence in Boeing, though, like many other airlines, it is seeking compensation as the jets remain grounded around the world and further plane deliveries stall.
Ryanair, which flies a fleet of exclusively Boeing planes, had not flown the Max planes it ordered before the plane model was grounded.
O'Leary told Reuters last week that the plane needed to return by the end of November at the latest "so as not to disrupt our growth for the summer of 2020," but there is no set time for the jet's return.
Boeing has said it's open to the idea of renaming the Max, though experts told Business Insider that such a move could be seen as a transparent stunt.
Airlines have mostly continued to publicly express confidence in Boeing, though the company's status as the world's largest plane-maker is under threat as deliveries stall and after at least one airline canceled its order for Max planes.
People have expressed skepticism about the plane after the two crashes, in Indonesia in October and Ethiopia in March, killed 346 people.
In a June poll of Americans, 41% of respondents said the plane would need to be safely back in service for six months before they would consider flying on it.
Other airlines have tried to soothe customers' fears. American Airlines, for instance, said it would fly senior executives on 737 Max planes before any regular passengers in an attempt to reassure the public that the plane is safe.
The planes will remain grounded until they are certified to fly again by the US Federal Aviation Administration and regulators around the world.
Newly emerging issues with the plane could see it grounded for months to come, and some airlines have canceled 737 Max flights until November as a result.
Read more about the 737 Max crisis:
NOW WATCH: Inside Roborace: the Formula One for self-driving cars
