Trump advises Boeing to fix, rebrand the 737 Max planes

Donald Trump has claimed he would be able to fix the troubled Boeing 737 Max and rebrand it after the double air tragedies that killed 346 people.

Trump said the Boeing 737 Max plane should be improved with unspecified new features and given a new name.

The model has suffered two deadly crashes in a matter of months, the first last October in Indonesia with the death of all 189 people on board and then in Ethiopia on March 10, killing all 157 aboard.

Both accidents took place shortly after takeoff. Investigators are focusing on a system that is supposed to help the Boeing workhorse aircraft avoid stalling in flight.

Airlines and countries around the world grounded the Boeing 737 Max jets or banned them from their airspace following the Ethiopian and Indonesian crashes.

Donald Trump, who owned the Trump Shuttle airline from 1989 to 1992 and is an aviation enthusiast, weighed in with his own advice.

"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 in an early morning tweet.

"No product has suffered like this one. But again, what the hell do I know?," he added.

It is not the first time Trump has weighed in on the Ethiopian crash.

Two days after the plane went down, he tweeted that these days jetliners are "becoming far too complex to fly".

He added: "Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. 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."