In an interview with Norah O’Donnell on CBS Evening News, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg repeatedly apologized for the two fatal crashes of his company’s 737 MAX aircraft that took the lives of 346 people: “We are sorry for the loss of lives in both accidents.”

Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft came under intense scrutiny in the wake of the twin disasters involving a Malindo Lion Air jet last October and a Ethiopian Air jet in March. After the second crash was found to have also been caused by an autopilot software program that forced the plane to nosedive, airlines around the world grounded the model and, currently, not a single 737 MAX is flying. In addition, several news reports have since uncovered how the company rushed the 737 MAX version to market and enjoyed lax FAA scrutiny in approving it for commercial use.

“I do personally apologize to the families, as I’ve mentioned earlier we feel terrible about these accidents, and we apologize for what happened,” Muilenburg told O’Donnell.

The Boeing chief said he also recognized how his company’s negligence had a worldwide impact on air travel. “We apologize more broadly to the traveling public where confidence has been affected,” he said, prompting O’Donnell to note: “People were scared about flying.”

Boeing says it is working on a fix to the software problem, but there has been no announcement yet as to when it will be completed and 737 MAX planes will return to the air, all of which is costing Boeing customers millions of dollars as parts of their fleets sit idle on tarmacs.

“We’ve impacted our airline customers, right, we regret that as well, and we’re stepping up,” Muilenburg claimed. “We’re taking responsibility. We know we have improvements we can make. We will make those improvements and we’re committed to safety for the long run.”

Watch above, via the CBS Evening News.