Two planes fell out of the sky. Hundreds of aircraft once grounded, now fly free. And yet, the scandal goes on.

Boeing was a company once associated with engineering excellence. However, the 737 MAX, its latest model, is causing controversy surrounding its safety. Just what is going on with Boeing and its 737 MAX, and is it something we should be worried about?

To understand why Boeing’s 737 MAX is facing so many problems, we must first look into the reason it was developed. The 737 MAX was not a plane Boeing had always anticipated to build. Instead, its creation was heavily motivated by the development of a rival’s plane – the Airbus A320neo. Introduced in 2010, the A320neo was an upgrade of Airbus’s older A320s. And it was a major hit, which Boeing did not like. The company followed suit in making its own upgrade just a year later, with its best-selling 737s—the 737 MAX.

The 737 MAX turned out to be highly successful, outselling the A320neo. However, hidden behind its rapid success was an imperfect product born from rushed development—driven by competition rather than innovation—which would soon come back at Boeing to bite.

The date was October 29, 2018. Lion Air Flight 610, an Indonesian domestic flight, had just taken off when the brand-new 737 MAX inexplicably started hurling itself towards the ground. It seemed that it had a mind of its own. Just 13 minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed into the ocean, and all 189 passengers aboard were lost. Five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, another MAX 8, experienced an almost identical scenario during take-off. Despite the pilots’ best efforts, it also crashed, taking with it 157 more lives.

Subsequently, countries worldwide banned the planes from flying until the problem could be determined. In Korea, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) banned the only Korean operator of the fleet—Eastar Jet—from operating their 737 MAX 8s. Korean Air also volunteered to postpone the introduction of their MAXs, originally scheduled to be delivered in May of 2019. It would not be until March 1, 2022—three years after the accidents—that Korean Air would begin operations with their delivered MAX 8s.

Investigators quickly found that a new software Boeing had implemented on the MAX was to blame for the accidents that had occurred. This software, called MCAS, was implemented to fix an instability in the aircraft pitch caused by the upgraded engines.

Boeing’s oversight was that MCAS relied on a single sensor to signal if it should activate. On the two fatal flights, this sensor malfunctioned, and MCAS activated incorrectly, pushing the planes into the ground. But more important than this oversight was the fact that the MCAS system was not properly documented. Pilots simply did not know that this system existed. In fact, it was revealed that Boeing intentionally withheld information about MCAS. This was because a new system as substantial as MCAS would require greater investment into pilots’ training, which Boeing felt would lessen the 737 MAX’s competitive edge against the A320neo.

Eventually, the MCAS problem was fixed, and the MAX flew the skies once more. But that did not signal the end of the MAX’s scandal. In January of this year, a door plug (a device used to secure unused exits) of an Alaskan Airlines 737 MAX 9 was ripped from the plane during its climb. This time, it was revealed that Boeing had simply forgotten to install the bolts needed to keep the plug in place. Numerous whistleblowers now share their accounts of safety violations at Boeing, where engineers are encouraged to cut corners as much as possible. There is fear that this may not be the end of the MAX’s tale of controversy.

As of April 2024, five Korean operators—Korean Air, Eastar Jet, Jeju Air, Jin Air, and T’way Air —operate the 737 MAX 8, with Korean Air possessing the largest fleet of five aircraft. This number is expected to rise as the older models phase out.

Then, does this mean the skies will soon be filled with unsafe planes? A positive note is that Boeing does seem to be changing as a result of this scandal. The company is in a difficult financial situation, and it knows further incidents will only cause more groundings and order cancellations. During the investigation into MCAS, Boeing chose a closed response and refused to reveal company information. However, during the Alaskan Airlines incident, the corporation openly acknowledged its mistake, agreeing to cooperate fully with the investigation. Outside of Boeing, the scandal has also prompted the FAA, the US federal agency responsible for certifying planes, to revise its certification process. Previously, some parts of the process were outsourced to employees at Boeing, leading to a lack of supervision by the organization.

But what is often overlooked is the fact that it is the passengers who have contributed most significantly to making Boeing change. It is only because of public interest, extensive media coverage, and ensuing pressure that Boeing is forced to acknowledge its need for transparency.

Think of this: when we book flights, how often do we consider the models of the planes that we fly on? Compared to the airline, time of take-off and arrival, and transfers among other factors, the model of an aircraft is rarely taken into consideration. But this attitude may have allowed Boeing to relax its quality control, knowing that passengers don’t care, as long as their planes get them to their destinations. After the accidents involving the 737 MAX, some booking sites have introduced an option to filter out flights via the MAX aircraft. While this new feature may sound small, it hints at how the public can make flying safe once again. By allowing passengers to be more informed on which aircraft they travel on, their preferences can have a greater impact on shaping the practices and decisions of the aviation industry. If a certain model is boycotted, airlines will lose profit and choose to operate alternative aircraft. Aircraft manufacturers like Boeing are then likely to realize that such aspects of passenger preference absolutely cannot be ignored. It was pressure from passengers that pushed this issue forward and revealed the truth once kept hidden within Boeing. Perhaps it is time to raise our voices further: let the manufacturers know that our safety isn’t something that they can neglect.