W

e are writing this letter in response to the article entitled “Fired foreign flyboys cry foul at Lombok flight school” (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 30, page 5):

The management of PT Lombok Institute of Flight Technology (PT LIFT) strongly denies having fired three foreign flight instructors. We also rebut the claim of the instructors that they had been fired by PT LIFT after they refused to use our Liberty XL2 training airplane that they considered not airworthy. The instructors were not qualified to certify whether an airplane was airworthy or not.

We did have a dispute with the three instructors in relation to their undisciplined behavior, which could have damaged our reputation in the eyes of our trainees and the people of Lombok in general.

We strongly reprimanded the three instructors and warned them against repeating such mistakes, but instead of apologizing, they left their accommodation facility at the Holiday Resort Lombok, where our company provided them with board and lodgings, on Dec. 6, 2012, and never reported back for duty without giving a reason.

We repeatedly asked them to return to their jobs but they never responded. We sent them a letter on Jan. 2 and we contacted them through their lawyers, asking them for negotiations to resolve the dispute. We also offered them a one month salary and return tickets to their respective home countries. But the instructors rejected all the gestures.

We regret that the Post did not cover both sides of the issue. The Post did quote an individual called “Syukro”, who was deemed a “human resource development manager” as saying that PT LIFT had nothing to say because the problem was being handled by the company’s lawyers. But we assert there is nobody on our payroll by the name of Syukro.

Tito Widyarto
Lawyer for the management of PT Lombok Institute of Flight Technology
Jakarta