JAKARTA: The Indonesian airlines whose safety regulations have been questioned by the country’s civil aviation authorities (TravelMole Asia, March 22) say they are confused by the ratings.
“I’m baffled by the ratings. Up to now, I’ve no idea what kind of criteria the government is using,” Garuda Indonesia spokesperson, Pudjo Broto, told the Jakarta Post.
The assessment by the Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation examined the performance of the airlines against 20 criteria, adapted from those applied by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and allocated points for compliance with standards.
Based on the total number of points the airlines were placed in one of three categories.
Several airlines, including Garuda Indonesia and Indonesia Air Asia, were placed in Category 2, which indicated they had met minimal requirements of civil aviation safety regulations but some requirements have not been implemented
In Category 3 – airlines whose safety levels were possibly not up to scratch – were Batavia Air, Adam Air, Kartika Airlines, Trans Wisata Air, Jatayu Airlines and Dirgantara Air Service.
The Category 3 airlines have been put on safety watch and could be banned if they do not meet the ICAO standards within three months.
The Australian government has advised Australian travellers to take note of the Indonesian airline safety audit when planning to fly on any of the carriers named in the report.
Pudjo said that Garuda – the largest airline operator in the country – had always passed regular international audits conducted by the airline authorities in its international destinations.
As for its domestic flights, Pudjo said that Garuda was the best in the business.
Merpati Nusantara Airlines and Mandala Airlines — both in the second category, and Adam Air – also claimed they were baffled by the assessment criteria.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) demanded that the airlines in the second and third category have their licences revoked instead of being given extra time to improve their performances.
“Safety is a black and white issue. An airline rating is either safe or unsafe,” Indonesian Consumers Foundation member Sudaryatmo told the Jakarta Post.
