Would you put your family on a MAX?

Public

Boeing public safety line · 2017-2019

Statements around MAX certification and early operations

“The 737 MAX is a safe airplane. Safety is Boeing’s highest priority, and pilots can train for the MAX in a computer course rather than a full simulator.”

Private

Unnamed Boeing employee in company-released IMs · 2018-02-08

Internal instant messages

“Honesty is the only way in this job — integrity when lives are on the line on the aircraft and training programs shouldn’t be taken with a pinch of salt. Would you put your family on a MAX simulator trained aircraft? I wouldn’t.”

The public register is certification and computer-based training. The private register is a family test. One of those is how engineers actually decide.

The tell · Ask whether the speaker would put their family on it. The pause is the preference.

How this became public: Boeing released hundreds of internal messages to Congress and the FAA, then to the press.