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AP II urges airline-funded bailout fund after Lion Air delays
After reimbursing hundreds of angry Lion Air passengers stranded at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport due to massive delays in recent days, state airport operator Angkasa Pura II (AP) recommends the establishment of an emergency fund jointly financed by airline operators
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fter reimbursing hundreds of angry Lion Air passengers stranded at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport due to massive delays in recent days, state airport operator Angkasa Pura II (AP) recommends the establishment of an emergency fund jointly financed by airline operators.
The plan, however, has been condemned by aviation players and experts, many of whom have said it would overly burden other airlines operating in Indonesia's skies. Instead, they say, the government should work to enforce existing laws that impose sanctions on companies that violate aviation regulations.
AP II president director Budi Karya Sumadi said Sunday the company was prepared to submit a request with the Transportation Ministry to allow an operator or an independent body to, in a business-to-business scheme, pool airline-company reserve funds into a separate account for reimbursing passengers in the event of prolonged flight delays.
Individual contributions to the group fund, Budi said, would be calculated based on the number of flights and passengers an airline flew daily as well as predictions of future delays.
'The money would be kept in a shared account and disbursed if an airline fell short of the amount of money needed to reimburse their passengers,' he explained.
The plan emerged this week after a rash of Lion Air flight delays stranded at least 2,000 passengers beginning Wednesday night. The delays paralyzed Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta and infuriated passengers, some of whom rushed Lion Air planes in the restricted tarmac zone and vandalized Lion Air facilities.
Due to the absence of Lion Air employees amid the chaos, AP II stepped in and began refunding tickets for stranded passengers starting Friday morning, disbursing a total of Rp 526 million (US$40,911) for some 500 passengers.
In accordance with Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 77/2011 on air transportation provider responsibilities, the refunds ' which included the price of the ticket, passenger-service charges and Rp 300,000 in compensation ' should have been paid by the aviation company responsible for the delays. Though Lion Air reimbursed AP II on Sunday, AP II's intervention has been criticized by consumer groups, politicians and aviation experts.
Some critics, citing President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's close relationship with Lion Air cofounder and National Awakening Party (PKB) politician Rusdi Kirana, who was sworn in as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres) last month, have said AP II's intervention could have been politically motivated.
'There's no political reason whatsoever [in deciding to refund the tickets]. We were simply being humane, seeing neglected passengers that had to wait overnight [...] some even passed out. We also decided to start refunding for safety reasons, because emotions were really high and some people even threatened to burn down the terminal,' Budi said. 'Considering this, we have to create a better plan.'
'We don't see why other airlines should be held responsible for mistakes made by one airline. We already have good regulations, but the problem is enforcement. That's the government's job,' said Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) chairman Tengku Burhanuddin.
Aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman also said the central problem was not the lack of effective regulations, but the absence of good law enforcement. 'All we need is for the government to sanction the problematic airline,' he added.
