Daily Insight: Tuesday 12 March 2019: Lion Air to Switch from MAX to A321

News

New reports from Singapore this morning indicate that Lion Air is likely to cancel its 200 aircraft order for Boeing 737MAX aircraft and likely change them to the competing Airbus A321neo.  While the company has not officially commented on the order, a director of the company indicated that the carrier had already suspended delivery of four jets that were scheduled for this year.

A switch away from the MAX is a vote of no confidence in Boeing, and on the surface looks negative for the US aircraft manufacturer.  But the story goes deeper, and is related to the public comments made by Boeing after the first Max crash of JT610 last year.