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Indonesia’s Garuda Airlines cancels order for 49 Boeing 737 Max jets
An aerial photo shows Boeing 737 MAX airplanes parked on the tarmac at the Boeing Factory in Renton, Washington, on March 21. (Lindsey Wasson/Reuters)
By Stanley Widianto and
Timothy McLaughlin
March 22 at 1:51 AM
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda Indonesia canceled an order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets following the deadly crashes involving two of the aircraft, a spokesman for the company said on Friday.
The cancellation comes less than two weeks after an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed en route to Nairobi from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people onboard. A Lion Air flight, a low-cost Indonesia airline, crashed in October shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
Both crashes involved the 737 Max 8 model jet and have brought intense scrutiny to the Chicago-based Boeing, which marketed the 737 Max 8 as a fuel efficient jet of the future. Garuda Indonesia’s cancellation is believed to be the first scrapping of orders in reaction to the crashes.
Ikhsan Rosan, a spokesman for Garuda Indonesia, told The Washington Post the orders were canceled because of “consumers’ low confidence” in the airplanes following the crashes. The order was first announced in October 2014.
Rosan said airline officials were scheduled to meet with representatives from Boeing to discuss the decision on March 28.
“The discussion won’t be easy,” he said. Garuda Indonesia ordered 50 of the aircraft, Rosan said, one has been delivered.
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