The recent safety incidents at Boeing: Impacts on Its Reputation and Its Relationships with Airline Companies.

Historically associated with expertise, innovation and reliability, Boeing saw its reputation challenged by the 737 MAX crashes and subsequent incidents, which raised concerns about its safety culture and credibility. As organizational crises can threaten reputation through stakeholder evaluations and responsibility attributions (Coombs, 2007), Boeing provides a relevant context for examining their impact on corporate reputation and airline relationships. Based on fourteen semi-structured interviews analyzed through thematic analysis, this study explores how consumers interpreted Boeing’s recent safety incidents, attributed responsibility, evaluated the company’s response and how these mechanisms together shaped reputational and relationship impacts. The findings reveal a deterioration of Boeing’s reputation. Although the company retains historical legitimacy, participants increasingly associated Boeing with safety concerns, and broader organizational shortcomings. The incidents were widely perceived as recurrent, preventable, linked to unethical decisions, insufficient transparency and profitability prioritization over safety. Combined with a response often perceived as inadequate, these increased reputational damage (Coombs & Holladay, 2002; Baghi & Gabrielli, 2019). Consequently, Boeing was increasingly judged as less reliable, less trustworthy and less committed to safety. The study identifies a mitigated spillover effect (Wang et al., 2025). While some participants distinguished airlines from Boeing, others transferred negative perceptions to airlines operating Boeing aircraft, exposing them to potential reputational repercussions. Beyond this effect, Boeing’s reputational deterioration may also indirectly weaken its relationships with airlines, as trust and reputation are central in B2B relationships and may influence the willingness to maintain partnerships. The findings highlight the importance of understanding how a crisis is perceived before responding to it. In crises viewed as preventable and linked to deeper organizational shortcomings, transparency, accountability and visible corrective actions appear essential to limit reputational damage and rebuild trust. They also suggest that reputational consequences may extend beyond the focal organization and affect associated partners across the broader ecosystem.