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Regional carrier Merpati could experience its last moments as the airline struggles to survive and has even suspended the payment of its employees. Strikes are now threatening the nearly bankrupt carrier.
JAKARTA- Since the early years of 2000s, regularly the news of the bankruptcy of Merpati Nusantara, before once of Indonesia’s largest regional carriers, is haunting regularly media. But this time it is more serious than ever as Merpati has suspended for the last two months the payment of salaries to pilots and cabin personal. Last Saturday, the Indonesian carrier ceased all its flights as pilots threatened to strike. Flights return to normal on Sunday. The suspension of activities would only have a very moderate impact on the airline. Merpati still flies over 120 routes across the archipelago but also to few destinations abroad. Bali-Lombok, Bali-Kupang, Jakarta-Surabaya and Surabaya-Makassar are among the largest routes for the carrier.
“We deliberately ceased our operations on Saturday and shifted all flights on that day to the next day,” Merpati corporate secretary Riswanto Chendra Putra said on Sunday to the Jakarta Post. Merpati is indeed embarked into an urgent restructuring plan as the airline continues to bleed. Its debts are enormous: they account for as much as US$533 million, with big sums of money to be reimbursed to oil and gas firm PT Pertamina as well all major airports served by Merpati.
Experts indicate that Merpati is in survival mode and that the airline was forced to suspend its salaries to its staff, now for the last two months. Workers unions now are calling for a new strike over the coming week end which could accelerate the airline’s demise. The strike would last –especially among pilots until the management pays salaries. Salaries of November should normally be paid until the end of the month.
Manpower and Transmigration Ministry spokesman Suhartono said the ministry was ready to mediate between the management and workers if they failed to find a solution.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
