Indonesia's Garuda Asks to Cancel 49 737 MAX Order: CFO

Addis Ababa March  22/2019 National carrier Garuda Indonesia has sent a letter to Boeing asking to cancel an order for 49 737 MAX 8 narrow body jets, Reuter reported quoting Garuda’s Chief Financial Officer Fuad Rizal.

The airline could switch the order, valued at six billion dollars at list prices, to other Boeing models, Rizal told Reuters.

He said negotiations with Boeing were ongoing and Airbus SE jets were not under consideration.

Garuda is the first airline to publicly confirm plans to cancel an order for the troubled jets after the second crash of a 737 MAX 8, which killed 157 people in Ethiopia last week.

Lion Air has been reconsidering its orders since one of its 737 MAX jets crashed in October.

Garuda CEO Ari Askhara told Reuters on Friday that customers had lost trust in the 737 MAX 8. The airline has only one in its fleet at present.

“They have been relooking at their fleet plan anyway so this is an opportunity to make some changes that otherwise may be difficult to do,” CAPA Center for Aviation Chief Analyst Brendan Sobie said.