Kayak Is Adding an 'Aircraft Type' Filter After the Second 737 MAX Crash
In the wake of the second 737 MAX 8 crash in less than five months, which resulted in the death of all 157 passengers on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight, at least one online travel agency (OTA) is moving to assuage travelers' fears.
Kayak.com is the first OTA to announce that it's offering travelers the option to filter their search by aircraft type. A spokesperson for Kayak said, "We've recently received feedback to make KAYAK's filters more granular in order to exclude particular aircraft models from search queries. We are releasing that enhancement this week and are committed to providing our customers with all the information they need to travel with confidence." The enhancement is not live yet.
This new addition to Kayak's search options was announced just hours before the FAA decided to ground every 737 MAX in the US.
A spokesperson for Google Flights said that while it does not have a filter-by-aircraft option at this time, "Google Flights users can view the plane type for each flight in the expanded details section, prior to booking" as in the following example:
When asked if the site had any future plans to add a function similar to Kayak's, the spokesperson said, "Not at this time."
For more, read about how to differentiate the various types of Boeing 737s and how to tell if you're flying on a Boeing 737 MAX.
TPG reached out to Expedia for comment on the matter and did not receive a response by time of publication.
H/T: Reuters
Feature photo by lechatnoir / Getty Images