Indonesian airline Garuda cancels order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets

[nitpicker]

Source: The Guardian

Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda has cancelled a multibillion-dollar order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after two fatal crashes involving the plane, the company said, blaming passengers’ loss of trust in the aircraft.

In what is thought to be the first formal cancellation for the model, Garuda spokesman Ikhsan Rosan said: “We have sent a letter to Boeing requesting that the order be cancelled.
(snip)

As Boeing continued to work on a fix for the planes grounded by airlines across the world, reports on Friday suggested that the manufacturer would make it compulsory for airlines buying the aircraft to have one of two optional safety features installed.

The equipment alerts pilots of faulty information from key sensors. It will now be included on every 737 Max as part of changes that Boeing is rushing to complete on the jets by early next week, according to two people familiar with the changes.
(snip)

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/22/indonesian-airline-garuda-cancels-order-for-49-boeing-737-max-8-jets

[Socal31]

1. I don't blame them.

But ouch to the employees who will feel the strain.

[Aussie105]

2. The problem is?

From my reading of preliminary analysis, the problem is with the anti-stall feature. Location of the engines more forward on the wings than usual is supposed to give the plane a tendency to go nose up all by itself. Sensors in the tail and software counteract this. Failure of the sensor or the software makes the plane nose dive despite pilot intervention.

Question: where is the 'off' switch for the system?

Why can't a simple 'Siri, turn autopilot off' do the job?

Got to wonder though. What are the 'optional safety features'? Does it include one big OFF switch?

[cvoogt]

12. See this

See this NY Times article. It explains it well.

[KelleyKramer]

3. Wow! 49 jets is a really big order

That's going to hit them hard in the wallet

[Sherman A1]

4. And so it begins

Boeing is going to feel this for a very, very long time.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. +1

I'm surprised it took this long, the way that the top of most corporations keep making such stupid decisions...much like Republicans handle policy on climate change.

[Lonestarblue]

5. I have to question the decision making at Boeing.

From what I’ve read, Boeing was trying to extend the life of an old model and avoid the cost of a redesign, perhaps understandable when lives are not at stake. But moving the engines in a frame that was not designed to have them in that location and thus knowingly delivering a plane with a tendency to stall seems not only shortsighted but also negligent toward the safety of the flying public. That redesign should never have been approved by the FAA, and maybe this will finally result in some changes in that far too cozy relationship. I suspect Boeing will lose more orders for this plane. Pilots and the public both may refuse to fly it.

[Blue_Tires]

10. In their defense, Boeing was just responding

to what airlines said they wanted in the next upgraded 737... These changes didn't happen in a vacuum

[hatrack]

6. 300+ dead passengers and crew weren't enough to get Boeing's attention .. .

But I'm sure billions of dollars in lost orders will.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. +1000

[mackdaddy]

9. All this to up-charge for a few lines of computer code.

The planes already had two of these wind vane like stall sensors. They even had code that would compare the readings between the two and notify the pilots if there was a discrepancy.

But Boeing decided that they could squeeze $ out of their customers to let them know if the Boeing supplied hardware had a failure! Hey it's not Boeing fault the airline did not pay for this.

Boeing has caused hundreds of deaths, and cost the company billions because they wanted to charge for something that basically cost them nothing.

[Blue_Tires]

11. Believe it or not, this isn't the first disaster

that could have been prevented had the airline shelled out a few more bucks for extra safety features and it won't be the last