M

ay 15, p3

In a bid to cut the future travel expenses of Indonesian haj pilgrims, the Religious Affairs Ministry is considering buying aircraft that will be used to transport people on the annual journey to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Your comments:

The government mulling buying aircraft for haj transportation may seem practical, but an aviation businessman would promptly say otherwise. The annual pilgrimage transportation of our people by local aviation companies is more in keeping with prestige than profit.

Understanding our people is one thing and upholding aviation prestige is another. The government must understand that caring for an aircraft is more complicated than that of a newborn baby.

Certain spare parts will have to be changed regularly, broken or otherwise.

All these and many others are mandatory including the meticulous maintenance of the flight instruments, while the aircraft is being hangared.

There is no room for corruption here without endangering the safety of the aircraft.

To the government institution concerned, please pay Garuda a visit before ever trying such a technically meticulous undertaking.

Moeljono