Indonesia’s National Airline Seeks to Cancel Order of Boeing Max 8s – The New York Times

Garuda could find it difficult to get out of its Max 8 order. Airlines typically put down a deposit of as much as 20 percent of the price of the plane, which costs $120 million before discounts, modifications and other adjustments. To get out of such a commitment, an airline has to show that the plane suffers from a structural problem or some other debilitating flaw, industry experts say.

Airlines also have limited alternatives, as Boeing and Airbus are the primary manufacturers of airliners used by most of the world’s commercial carriers. Airlines maintain longtime relationships with manufacturers and it would be difficult to cut ties with one of the two manufacturers making the aircraft they need, something that Mr. Ikhsan acknowledged on Friday. He said it was possible “that we change to another model, not Max, but still from Boeing.”

It could also be hard to find replacements. Airbus has a yearslong backlog of orders to fill for its rival to the Max 8, the A320neo. China’s rival plane, the C919 — built by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or Comac — has not yet flown commercially and must prove that it is both fuel-efficient and economical to operate.

Until investigators determine exactly what happened on both the Ethiopian Airlines flight and the Lion Air flight, it could be difficult for airlines to change contracts with Boeing.

Norwegian Air, a low-cost airline with one of the largest Max 8 fleets outside the United States, said last week that it expected Boeing to cover the costs of the aircraft being grounded. But compensation could also be difficult to argue for at this stage, experts said.

A spokesman for Norwegian said on Friday that the airline had no plans to cancel its orders from Boeing. Representatives of other airlines with Max 8 planes on order, including Tui, Icelandair and FlyDubai, also said they had no current plans to cancel orders.