Sriwijaya Air cancels plan to lease two Boeing 737 MAX jets

Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air, which is operated by flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, has cancelled plan to lease two Boeing Co 737 MAX jets, a spokesman said Friday. “Due to the Ethiopian crash, the company felt it had to cancel the plan,” Sriwijaya Air spokesman Adi Willi Hanhari Haloho said. Haloho declined to name who the lessor for the Boeing jets was. Garuda Indonesia, which took over operational control of Sriwijaya in November, was the first airline to publicly confirm plans to scrap a 737 MAX order after the Ethiopian crash, in its case for 49 Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 jets. Garuda cited a loss of passenger trust following the two crashes, although it had been reconsidering the order before the latest disaster in Ethiopia. The company had met with Boeing on Thursday to discuss the scrapped order and its safety concerns over the Max 8 series, it said. Garuda will meet again with Boeing at the end of April to find “a win-win solution for both parties,” the statement staid.<br/>