After airlines and countries have grounded their fleets of Boeing 737 MAX jets, Indonesia’s Garuda Indonesia has become the first airline in the world to cancel its order for 49 Max 8s.

“We have sent a letter to Boeing requesting that the order be cancelled,” Garuda spokesman Ikhsan Rosan said on Friday. “The reason is that Garuda passengers in Indonesia have lost trust and no longer have confidence” in the plane, he said.

According to Garuda Indonesia’s Chie Financial Officer Fuad Rizal, the airline could switch the order which is valued at around USD $6 billion for other Boeing models, adding that talks with the US-based aviation manufacturer is ongoing and Airbus SE jets were not under consideration.

Garuda Indonesia placed the order for 50 737 MAX 8s in 2014 worth USD $4.9 billion, and the company has already received the first of the ordered planes. As for the delivered jet, an official for the airline quoted in the Indonesian media outlet Detik that it would consider returning the delivered 737 MAX 8.

The cancellation of the orders comes as 737 MAX has faced scrutiny by airlines and aviation authorities around the world after the crashes of Lion Air JT610 and Ethiopian Airlines ET302, with both incidents involving MAX 8s that were delivered just months before their accidents.

Last week, speculation around this move came after Garuda’s CEO stated the airline was considering cancelling the order when speaking to reporters saying: “Garuda is reconsidering its upcoming order of 20 Boeing 737 MAXs after the two Boeing crashes,” CEO Ari Askhara told reporters on Thursday (March 14), adding its only Boeing 737 MAX would stay grounded until “there’s notification from the FAA”.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.