Indonesia’s air giant Lion Air is being evaluated by the Indonesian government due to repeated delays during last week. It will do nothing to boost the reputation of low quality of the carrier in Europe and might put a cast on the airline’s next expansion to Thailand…
JAKARTA – Moment of truth for Lion Air: Indonesia’s largest air carrier –it controls 50% of total domestic market or 35 million passengers with a fleet of 123 aircraft- experienced a terrible last week with delays piling up for the carrier. As passengers vehemently protested to be not properly treated and forced to wait for hours, the Indonesian government moved into the case by announcing a two-week evaluation of the carrier performance. The test started last Monday.
The Government’s evaluation will look at Lion’s business, including its back-room operation, but the review carries no threat of sanctions and it can make only recommendations to the company. According to the Ministry of Transport, Lion Air bad punctuality record is worrisome but not breaching any consumer protection law.
Lion Air acknowledged this week that it has been facing management problems, citing delays to have been partially caused by the non-delivery of new tires (800 pieces. The blockade of the tires delivery forced the airline to ground a high number of aircraft and to reschedule many of its flights. According to airline’s spokesman Edward Sirait to Indonesian media, “ any airline management would be worried of losing the public’s trust if they were faced with such problems”.
Lion Air’s punctuality rate was 75 percent, he said. However last week, passengers experienced several hours of delay in Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Padang, Makassar or Batam… The Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) has called for the Ministry of Transportation to take action against the airline using the 1999 consumer protection law.
Lion Air has already been in trouble several times this year. In May, the National Transportation Safety Committee recommended to the airline’s management to rapidly address safety issues in its pilot training after one of its planes crashed short of Denpasar International Airport’s runway in Bali.
Lion recent troubles could alter the image of the carrier as it is embarked into ambitious expansion plans across Southeast Asia. Following the launch of its first foreign subsidiary in Malaysia – Malindo Air- earlier this year, Lion Air announced earlier this year to get ready for a Thai subsidiary Thai Lion . According to the carrier’s website, the first flights are due in just a week time.
Thai Lion will be based at Bangkok Don Mueang Airport and will first offer three routes out of Bangkok to Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and to Chiang Mai with an initial fleet of two Boeing 737-900ER.
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.
