Airline Wants Out of $4.9B Deal for Boeing Max 8s

The reason, at least, is sound: Indonesia's national airline is seeking to cancel a $4.9 billion order of Boeing 737 Max 8 jets, citing a lack of passenger confidence in the model involved in two crashes in five months that killed everyone aboard both planes. "Continuing the Max order does not benefit Garuda [Indonesia]," says spokesman Ikhsan Rosan, per the New York Times. "Our passengers, psychologically, they don't trust flying with Max anymore." Whether the airline can in fact cancel the order of 49 jets is another matter. Ikhsan admits it's hard to get out of such an agreement, though there's the possibility that "we change to another model … still from Boeing." Alternatives are to be discussed with Boeing executives in Jakarta on Thursday. Boeing says it won't comment on "customer discussions," per CNN. (More Boeing stories.)