President Trump gave Boeing a piece of advice on Monday, urging the embattled company to “rebrand” its 737 Max passenger jets in the wake of deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
“What do I know about branding, maybe nothing (but I did become President!), but if I were Boeing, I would FIX the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, & REBRAND the plane with a new name,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
“No product has suffered like this one,” he added. “But again, what the hell do I know?”
Trump has worked closely in recent weeks with Boeing following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max that killed all 157 people on board in March.{mosads}
Trump issued an emergency order grounding the planes a few days after the crash and spoke with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg.
Preliminary investigations of that crash and one involving a Lion Air flight last year found issues with the jets’ Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, an automated flight control system. The software can force the plan to dive down unexpectedly.
Trump in a tweet last month wrote “pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT” due to the perceived complexities of flying technologically advanced aircraft.
“I see it all the time in many products. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better,” he wrote.