Indonesian National Airline, Lion Air, recently agreed to purchase 230 Boeing aircraft manufactured by the U.S. There is rumor that Lion Air is “pressured” by the White House for the purchase of the aircrafts with the highest value in Boeing's history.
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"I do not want to respond to the news, the proses between Boeing and us is normal process. We perform normal business processes with no other interests, "said Edward to detikFinance, Friday (12/02/2011).
Edward added that the relationship between Lion and Boeing is pure relationship business. So he will not respond to rumors that stated there was coercion in the purchase of 230 aircraft.
The agreement between Boeing and Lion is the biggest business deal ever made by Boeing, with more than 200 aircraft orders. The Government and the U.S. Export-Import Bank is the facilitator for this agreement.
The signing of the aircraft purchase is performed in conjunction with the ASEAN Summit event held in Nusa Dua Bali, mid-November. The president of the U.S., Barack Obama was also present in that event.
Help Overcome Unemployment in the U.S.
The order of Boeing 230 by Lion Air is able to help solve the unemployment problem in the United States. This order from Indonesia's airlines can at least help creating about 100,000 jobs in the U.S. in the long run.
Lion agreed to purchase 230 Boeing aircraft with a total estimated transaction value reaches U.S. $ 21.7 billion or equivalent to IDR 195 trillion.
The Boeing aircraft purchased by Lion are composed from a combination of 201units of 737 MAXs and 29 units of 737-900 ERs. The deal also includes the right to increase the purchase of 150 aircraft.
President Barack Obama is reported to put the pressure on Lion Air to purchase the Boeing 230 aircraft. This news is actually revealed by Boeing’s rival, Airbus as quoted by Bloomberg. It is said that, President Director of Lion Air, Rusdi Kirana, had a “heart-to-heart” discussion with the Chief Operating Officer John Leahy.
"He told me, he had no choice. There seems to be an awful political interference there and I think the White House is very proud of it," Leahy said in a conference call, as quoted by Bloomberg.
Edward did not want to respond regarding Kirana’s discussion. "Anyway, it is strictly business only," he emphasized.
Source: Analisa, Medan
