Negative Thoughts Among Passengers Caused by Accidents of Boeing

737 Series Aircraft in Recent Years

Guan Xi

School of Asian and African Studies, Tianjin Foreign Studies University, Tianjin, 300000, China

Keywords: Boeing 737 Series Aircraft, Accidents Occur Frequently, Civil Aviation, Brand Influence, Investigation and

Analysis.

Abstract: In recent years, people have been traveling by plane more and more frequently, which has also exposed many

problems. With the increasing frequency of accidents on the Boeing 737 series aircraft in recent years, some

studies have found that the frequent accidents on the Boeing 737 series have led to an increase in people's

attention to aircraft safety, resulting in many negative thoughts about the Boeing 737 series aircraft. However,

there is a lack of research on the reasons behind these negative thoughts. This study is based on a questionnaire

survey of 500 passengers of different age groups, and summarizes and analyzes them, as well as using the

method of summarizing previous literature, with the aim of understanding their inner thoughts and motivations.

At the same time, the current situation of the civil aviation market is also understood through literature search.

Questionnaire surveys and literature searches can better position Boeing aircraft's competitiveness in the market.

By enhancing people's awareness of the Boeing 737 series aircraft, people can strengthen the brand influence

of Boeing aircraft and better understand the thoughts and needs of passengers.

1 INTRODUCTION

The safety of airplane travel has become a key

concern for passengers. With the increasing

frequency of people's business travel and other travel

needs, airplanes have become an essential means of

transportation. At the same time, with the frequent

accidents of Boeing 737 series aircraft in recent years,

people are paying more attention to aircraft safety

issues. In the context of aircraft globalization, the

Boeing 737 series has experienced frequent problems

and accidents in recent years, and the Boeing market

is undergoing unprecedented changes. People's views

on the Boeing 737 series have also undergone

significant changes. In 2018, Lion Air Flight 610

crashed for the first time in Indonesia. Prior to the

crash, the 737 MAX series aircraft had already

become the best-selling aircraft in the history of this

manufacturing giant. Two days after the Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA) certified the safe

flight of a new 737 derivative aircraft, an Ethiopian

Airlines 737 MAX crashed (Eshun, Waters, &

Amoako, 2024). And the China Eastern Airlines

plane crash (Shi & Zhang, 2022). Flight safety issues

have become a key concern for passengers. With the

increasing frequency of people's business travel and

other travel needs, airplanes have become an essential

means of transportation. At the same time, with the

frequent accidents of Boeing 737 series aircraft in

recent years, people are paying more attention to

aircraft safety issues. In the context of aircraft

globalization, the Boeing 737 series has experienced

frequent problems and accidents in recent years, and

the Boeing market is undergoing unprecedented

changes. People's views on the Boeing 737 series

have also undergone significant changes. In 2018,

Lion Air Flight 610 crashed for the first time in

Indonesia, and before the crash, the 737 MAX series

aircraft had already become the best-selling aircraft in

the history of this manufacturing giant. The theme of

this study is how to change passengers’ negative

perception of Boeing 737 series aircraft. This study

uses the method of questionnaire survey.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The method of questionnaire survey was applied.

Firstly, Questionnaire questions should be set up to

obtain information about the respondents from

different dimensions, including age, gender, attention

Xi, G.

Negative Thoughts Among Passengers Caused by Accidents of Boeing 737 Series Aircraft in Recent Years.

DOI: 10.5220/0013851200004719

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-commerce and Modern Logistics (ICEML 2025), pages 627-631

ISBN: 978-989-758-775-7

627

to aircraft types when flying, level of understanding

of aircraft, whether they will deliberately avoid

Boeing 737 series aircraft, whether they will consider

flying Boeing 737 series aircraft with more than 10

years of age, and whether they will support the

development of Boeing 737 series aircraft in the civil

aviation industry. This can provide a more

comprehensive understanding of passengers' inner

thoughts and opinions on different issues. Then the

questionnaire is distributed via the Internet, which has

the advantages of fast transmission speed and high

effectiveness, making it easier to collect data. The

questionnaire survey is aimed at people aged 18-50

and above, divided into five groups for statistical

analysis. After reaching the sample size, the

investigation was stopped. There were a total of 589

samples, of which 500 were valid samples. When

there is a conflict between whether to deliberately

avoid Boeing 737 series aircraft and whether to

consider flying on Boeing 737 series aircraft with an

age of more than 10 years, it is considered an invalid

sample. The valid sample data obtained from

statistics should be compared and summarized to

identify any issues.

3 RESULTS

Figure 1: People’s age at BOEING737 (Picture credit: Original)

Figure 2: The degree of understanding of aircraft (Picture credit: Original)

As shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2, the majority of

respondents in this age group are mainly students and

office workers. As shown in Figure 3, the study found

that the group with a higher level of understanding of

airplanes in the report is concentrated in the 18-30 age

group, accounting for 59.66%. They have a high level

100

120

140

160

180

200

18-23 24-30 31-40 41-50 over50

Age

18-23 24-30 31-40 41-50 over50

The level of understanding of airplanes

Degree of understanding

ICEML 2025 - International Conference on E-commerce and Modern Logistics

628

of attention to news (Yang, 2025). At the same time,

they also have a high level of understanding of

airplanes, accounting for 66.14%, and often travel by

plane. Research shows that young people (Li, Cen,

Wu, Lin & Chiu, 2022). So people need to focus on

young people. Moreover, young people are good at

using the Internet to speed up information

dissemination. If they can correctly use the Internet to

make positive publicity for the Boeing 737 series

aircraft, it can greatly improve the market influence

of the Boeing 737 series aircraft (Song, 2011).

Figure 3: Will passengers pay attention to the model when travelling

(Picture credit: Original)

As shown in Figure 3, nowadays 62.75% of people

pay attention to aircraft models when traveling, which

indicates that the frequent accidents of Boeing 737

series aircraft in recent years have made more people

pay attention to aircraft models when traveling. The

attention to the aircraft model varies among different

age groups, with the main groups being 18-23, 24-30,

and 31-40, accounting for 83.02%. As shown in

Figure 3, 14% of the people who deliberately avoid the

Boeing 737 series aircraft are mainly people aged 18-

23 and over 50. People aged 18-23 are often active on

the Internet (Li et al., 2022). They have a high

understanding of current events, but sometimes they

blindly follow the trend, lack social experience and

research thinking. People over 50 years old attach

greater importance to safety issues and have high

requirements for safety when traveling. The customer

group aged 18-23 still holds a significant influence in

the market, and their perception of the Boeing 737

series aircraft should be changed to strengthen positive

publicity and enhance brand influence. The research

found that in the context of the Internet era, various

information technologies have been widely

popularized, greatly expanding the boundaries of the

market. The new characteristics of diversification and

precision of enterprise marketing in the Internet

context can better carry out marketing activities and

enhance product market competitiveness (Tao, 2024).

Figure 4: Will passengers choose Boeing 737 series aircraft over 10 years of age

(Picture credit: Original)

18-23 24-30 31-40 41-50 over 50

Will passengers pay attention to the model

when travelling

The degree of attention to the model

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

18-23 24-30 31-40 41-50 over 50

Will passengers choose to fly on Boeing 737

series aircraft with an age of over 10 years

Negative Thoughts Among Passengers Caused by Accidents of Boeing 737 Series Aircraft in Recent Years

629

Figures 4 show whether passengers would choose

Boeing 737 series aircraft that are over 10 years old.

Data shows that nearly 50% of passengers will not

choose to fly the Boeing 737 series aircraft over 10

years of age, so at this stage, the Boeing 737 series

aircraft should regain its market influence and take

advantage of the advantages of the Internet, Through

Internet publicity, the influence and popularity of

brand building can be improved (Gu, Yu & Zhang,

2025). By shooting short advertising videos, the idea

of Boeing 737 series aircraft can be revealed through

advertising, so that passengers can trust Boeing 737

series aircraft again (Cao, 2025). At the same time,

Boeing can summarize its achievements, improve its

position in people's hearts, and enhance trust. After

each accident, Boeing planes only issue statements or

grounded the involved aircraft models. By comparing

with other companies, it can be found that shooting

advertisements is one of the good ways to change

market influence and consumer perception. Taking the

example of a slogan released by Xie Ruilin Jewelry

during a low point more than a decade ago: "Every day

you are bigger than yesterday", by shooting touching

love advertisements, Xie Ruilin Jewelry's philosophy

was extended. Through such an advertisement, many

middle-class and above couples were moved, thus

enabling Xie Ruilin Jewelry to return to its market

position. In recent years, through the Internet and

advertising photography, individuals have stepped out

of the valley and returned to the peak. Research has

found that advertising shooting has the characteristics

of fast speed, wide coverage, and low cost. Through

advertising promotion, enterprises can better promote

consumers' understanding of product image, expand

market share, enhance trust and visibility, and leave a

deep impression. Therefore, Boeing can indeed

recover its market influence through advertising and

Internet promotion.

Figure 5: Will it support the development of Boeing 737 series aircraft in the civiliaviation industry

(Picture credit:

Original)

As shown in Figure 5, through the pie chart, it can

be clearly seen that although Boeing 737 series

aircraft accidents have occurred frequently in recent

years, 86.27% of passengers still support Boeing 737

series aircraft and the development of Boeing

Company, proving that Boeing aircraft still has a

certain market influence (Gu, Yu & Zhang, 2025).

From this, it can be seen that there is still a certain

market group for potential users of Boeing aircraft.

However, in recent years, frequent accidents have

brought many negative impacts to Boeing (Li, 2019).

Therefore, people can see that reputation and product

strength have an impact on a brand. Therefore, it is

urgent to regain the market influence of Boeing 737

series aircraft and Boeing Company. To make good

use of passengers' trust in Boeing and turn the

company from crisis to safety.

4 DISCUSSION

The reason why people have negative views on

Boeing 737 series aircraft is that Boeing's reputation

has plummeted in recent years under the influence of

frequent accidents. In the Internet age, the hype of

bloggers on short video websites, coupled with

Boeing's own problems, has deeply influenced

people's ideas. Boeing is a company that influences

the global civil aviation industry, reflecting the issues

with its marketing strategies and methods. It should

use advertising and promotion methods to create a

Will it support the development of Boeing 737

series aircraft in the civiliaviation industry

can can not

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630

successful advertisement, which can deeply

understand Boeing's attitude towards the Boeing 737

series aircraft and its future efforts to improve the

Boeing 737 series aircraft (Liu, 2025). People can

choose to use the background of family, friends, or

lovers to connect the Boeing 737 series aircraft with

family, friendship, and love. This not only reflects the

improved safety, but also demonstrates that the

Boeing 737 series aircraft is still worth choosing.

Advertising can change the perception of consumers

and passengers, regain confidence in the Boeing 737

series aircraft, and regain market influence.

5 CONCLUSIONS

This study used questionnaire surveys and literature

searches to explore the negative thoughts that Boeing

aircraft accidents have brought to people in recent

years, and how to change people's current negative

perceptions of Boeing aircraft. The survey results

show that people's understanding of airplanes is

generally low. Boeing should strengthen positive

publicity of Boeing airplanes, enhance people's

confidence in the Boeing 737 series aircraft, and

respond positively to questions rather than avoiding

them. As an important tool for brand communication,

the promotional influence and attractiveness of social

media have affected consumers' brand loyalty.

Obviously, Boeing's positive promotion on social

media is not yet in place. By shooting advertisements,

it can penetrate the hearts of consumers and

passengers, and efforts still need to be made in

positive promotion on social media.

This study provides strategic insights for brands

on how to regain their influence in the market,

particularly through shooting advertisements and

strengthening multi-channel integration of social

media promotion. The Boeing 737 series aircraft can

regain consumer willingness and further consolidate

its market position by shooting corresponding

advertisements and making improvements, thereby

maintaining its competitiveness with Airbus aircraft.

However, limitations of this study, such as sample

size and data breadth, may affect the generalizability

and applicability of the conclusions. Future research

should expand the sample size to include a wider

range of consumer groups. In addition, future

research can explore psychological factors such as

brand identity connections, providing more diverse

perspectives on loyalty to the Boeing 737 series

aircraft.

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[Author details retrieved from Wiley Online Library].

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/authored-

by/Cen/Hongyi

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