Boeing is open to changing the name of 737 MAX

Boeing Co is open to dropping the "MAX" branding for its latest 737 jetliner, depending on an assessment of consumer and airline responses.

It has been three months since Boeing 737 MAX was grounded following two fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

"I'd say we're being open-minded to all the input we get," chief financial officer Greg Smith said in an interview on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show on Monday.

"We're committed to doing what we need to do to restore it. If that means changing the brand to restore it, then we'll address that. If it doesn't, we'll address whatever is a high priority."

For now, executives insist they have no immediate plans to drop the MAX name for something less associated with tragedy, such as the product numbers that marked earlier generations of the company's best-selling aircraft.

"Our immediate focus is the safe return of the MAX to service and re-earning the trust of airlines and the traveling public," Boeing said in a statement. "We remain open-minded to all input from customers and other stakeholders, but have no plans at this time to change the name of the 737 MAX."

The damage to the company's own name, as well as its jetliner brands, is just one aspect of the crisis that Boeing teams are managing from a Seattle-area war room.

If Boeing does change the MAX's branding, it would be following a suggestion made two months ago by US President Donald Trump, who tweeted that the company should "rebrand the plane with a new name."

While it's up to global regulators to determine when the 737 MAX will eventually fly again, Boeing is trying to anticipate and plan for every possible scenario related to the unprecedented grounding, which has triggered one of the worst crises in the planemaker's century-long history.