Almost half of Icelanders (45%) consider Boeing 737 MAX as the safest aircraft compared to other passenger planes, while 22% believe it safe to fly on it. This is the result of the recent poll by Market and media research (MMR). Icelandair ordered 12 aircraft of Boeing 737 MAX family and uses only 2 of them right now.
The new survey was performed from 30.December 2020 to 11.January 2021. 2002 people answered the questions. A total of 10% said that it is much safer to travel with Boeing MAX jets than other passenger jets, 12% thought it was somewhat safer, 23% as safe/unsafe, 11% somewhat more insecure and 11% much more insecure, and 33% said they were not sure.
Differences by demographic group
Men (54%) were more likely than women (35%) to say that it is as safe or safer to travel with Boeing 737 MAX aircraft than other passenger jets. Women (41%) were more likely than men (25%) to say they were unsure whether the MAX planes were safer than other passenger jets or not, but there was little difference between the sexes in the proportion of those who said they considered the MAX planes safer than other passenger jets (23% women; 21% men).
Respondents aged 50-67 (48%) were most likely to say that traveling with 737 MAX was as safe or safer than on other passenger jets, and respondents aged 18-29 were less likely (41%). Respondents of the youngest age group also were less likely to say that traveling with MAX aircraft was safer than with other passenger jets (16%) and more likely than respondents of other age groups to say they were not sure whether MAX aircraft were safer or safer than other passenger jets (43%).
Differences by travel experience
It is interesting to note that confidence in the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft increased in parallel with the increased frequency of respondents’ travel. Respondents who said they usually traveled abroad five times a year or more before the coronavirus epidemic were more likely to say that traveling with Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was as safe or safer as with other passenger jets (56%). Confidence in the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft decreased at the same time as the number of trips abroad decreased and was lowest among the respondents who said that they did not normally travel abroad each year (34%). Uncertainty about the safety of the MAX planes was highest among those who said they did not travel at all. 46% of those who said they did not travel abroad and 39% of those who said they traveled once a year said they were not sure how safe the MAX planes were, is compared to 21% of those who said they usually travel five times a year or more.
Differences by political views
There was some difference in the respondents’ political views. Supporters of the Center Party (56%), the Independence Party (53%), and Progress (52%) were most likely to say that traveling with Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was as safe or safer than traveling with passenger jets other than supporters of the Pirates (35%), the Social Democrats ( 41%) and the People’s Party (44%) most unlikely.
Supporters of the Samfylking (33%), Sjálfstæðisflokkur (29%) and Framsóknir (25%) were more likely than supporters of other parties to say that traveling with the MAX planes was safer than with other passenger jets than supporters of the Left-Greens (12%) and Viðreisn ( 17%) most unlikely.
