Adam Air

[manc in oz]

For anybody thinking of booking flights in the near future. Read this from Jakarta Post.


JAKARTA (AP): Adam Air was bracing for possible closure Friday after the Indonesian government announced plans to shut down an unspecified local carrier following a string of aviation accidents, officials said.

Director General of Air Transportation Budi Mulyawan Suyitno did not identify the airline that would have its license revoked, saying only that it had recently been plagued by “frequent accidents.”

“We will announce the name next week,” he told Dow Jones news wire, after acknowledging that some companies appeared to be cutting corners by leasing cheap, old planes that are not necessarily air-worthy.Indonesia has recently seen a string of plane accidents this year, two of them deadly.

An Adam Air jetliner plunged into the sea on New Year’s Day, killing 102 people. In February, one of the carrier’s planes broke in half on a hard-landing, causing no injuries. And last week, a Boeing 737 operated by the flag carrier Garuda Indonesia,overshot the runway and burst into flames, killing 21.

 

[Dasha]

Does not suprise me Manc

May I suggest that the Indonesian Government take a closer look at it's flag carrier in terms of safety given recent events.

And while we are at it .. how about GT and Meparti.

Flying buses we call em down south with pilots who do not know how to even close the door on the cockpit for the duration of the entire flight.

Scary Huh?

 

[Sanurian]

My "favourite" (long defunct) airline in Indonesia was called ZAMRUD.

Great sounding name.
It screwed up many years ago or maybe just went simply bankrupt.

I'll never forget a brilliant T-shirt I saw at the time that said:

ZAMRUD - BEMO IN THE SKY

Said it all.

For many years after its demise, you could always see a couple of old, decrepit Zamrud planes parked/sleeping on the tarmac at Ngurah Rai airport (Denpasar). Not sure what happened to them. Maybe the Balinese cremated them. Or turned them into a warung in the vicinity.

I just hope they weren't sold to somebody and are still "flying".

:cry:

 

[Dasha]

Got news Phil .. the "flying Warung" is still up there.

That was the one I was talking about when we landed in Mataram in January after Adam Air's 1st disaster with the cockpit door flapping complete with pilots and an upside down Melways asking each other "do you want transport sir"?

dash

 

[cyrus]

Amongst most Indonesians, Garuda is considered by far the safest. Some funny folks like my in-laws will not fly domestically with another airline.

Cyrus

 

[manc in oz]

Re: RE: Adam Air

Amongst most Indonesians, Garuda is considered by far the safest. Some funny folks like my in-laws will not fly domestically with another airline.

Cyrus

Yes, you are probably right cyrus. Although, In recent times Garuda have been in financial trouble. The last few times I flew with them, the interior of the plane was not the best. I tried not to imagine what the exterior was like.

 

[manc in oz]

More from the Jakarta Post.


JAKARTA (JP): Despite experiencing a series of accidents, Adam Air escaped license revocation as it was only categorized Thursday by the Ministry of Transportation as one of the worst airlines in the country that fail to meet several safety requirements.

The Ministry also announced that six other airlines – Metro Batavia, Trans Wisata, Tri MG Intra Asia Airlines, Manunggal Air Service, Jatayu Gelang Sejahtera, Kartika Airlines - were also put in the same category as Adam Air.

The other 13 airlines were placed in the second category as they were only able to meet the minimum safety requirements.

None of the local airlines met all safety requirements as required by the regulations, the Ministry’s Air Transportation Director General Budi Mulyawan Suyitno was quoted by Metro TV as saying.

He said that Adam Air and the other six airlines under the worst category would be given a-three-month period to improve their airlines otherwise their licenses would be revoked.

 

[iainsomers]

My wife (and me) try to avoid to fly with Garuda. My wife was several times being treated as less than the non-indonesian passengers.

 

[Jimbo]

Was this recently you experianced this? I have flown Garuda many times and always found I was treated very well. If that was because I always spoke Indonesian I do not know but it did not seem to be the case.

 

[Sanurian]

The point about the latest investigations into Indonesian "air safety", as far as I can tell, is that none of the domestic airlines "passed" with flying colours (pardon the pun).

I've flown with Garuda on both international and domestic flights many times and have never experienced rude service. Then again, I am a non-Indonesian.

It will be interesting to see what actions the authorities take to make flying within Indonesia a safer experience. And let's not forget the almost routine train crashes on Java, let alone the various ferry disasters.

The latest mystery story I've heard is about a military helicopter that went down in Sulawesi about 13 years ago. There was a journalist or two on-board and some students. Two years later, an alleged body of one of the students was buried. The helicopter was just found recently and one of the skeletons had the same ID as the buried body.

How come?

:shock:

 

[tintin]

How come? you ask, and you live in Sanur.... :wink: My dear Sanurian, it's just another trick of the leyaks.

I have not flown Garuda Int'l for at least ten years. I used to fly LAX - DPS whenever I came to Bali. I always was looking forward to these long trips of 21 or so hours. The service, food, drinks, etc were just great. The planes were DC-10. Now, domestically, it's altogether another story.

 

[Tinkerbelle]

I have flown Garuda to Bali 3 times in the last year and will be doing so in july. So far the service and flights have been fantastic no complaints whatsoever. The safety was so great leaving Bali new years day 2007 as it was pouring we sat on the run way for 30 mins till the rain cleared. Perhaps Adam Air should have been more careful that day!

 

[drbruce]

Flights within Indonesia are always interesting. Right now I\m sitting at the airport in Mataram waiting for a Merpati flight to Denpasar so that I can get to Bangkok tonight for a conference. Merpati has changed their schedule twice in the past three days, and when I arrived at the airport an hour ago they had changed it again. Nothing like flying the happy skies of Indonesia.

 

[Dasha]

Interesting to note the Jakarta Post and other sources reporting the sudden departure of over 70 pilots from Garuda.

Seems they are heading for better pay and conditions with the Indonesian regional airlines – must be Merparti and Adam Air. Looks like we will be safe at Mataram from now on Dr Bruce!

The article also says that in the previous year and a half that over 100 pilots left the flagship for greener pastures. Perhaps that is the reason for pilot error back in March.

I hope they still have enough good ones to fly the international routes over the next month.

 

[manc in oz]

Sooner you than me Dasha :lol: That last bit of news has put me of them for good.

 

[Ipanema]

I am leaving tomorrow night and I am flying Singapore Airlines from Brisbane. Garuda do not fly direct from Brisbane to Denpasar now and it looks like they will not return but after reading about the pilots leaving I am glad I picked Singapore Airlines.

By the way Qantas just got a bagging from Australians and rated it the worst airline they have flown. It was a survey of 4000 Australians through Choice Magazine. Qantas rejected the survey but from reading the "Your say" in the paper they should not ignore the survey.

 

[Dasha]

I would be on top of that list for QA baggers. Have not flown with them since they left us stranded (wife and kids)in 97 - the wife reconfirmed 2 weeks prior to departure but they still managed to do a 102% forcast. Have used Garuda since.

The way I see it - Garuda have crashed enough planes thus far so I'm better off to continue with the great people and service I get as the law of avrerages has gotta work the other way with QA/ Singapore sooner or later!! Is that how it works?

 

[Jimbo]

Hope you are right Dasha. I am booked on Garuda on July 11th

 

[iainsomers]

Re: RE: Adam Air

Was this recently you experianced this? I have flown Garuda many times and always found I was treated very well. If that was because I always spoke Indonesian I do not know but it did not seem to be the case.

Little late comment, but it was not me who they treated bad (I never had complains), but my wife. She is balinese, so ofcourse she speaks the language. But I dont know how bad it is, she just had some bad experiences and now we only fly S'pore Airlines, Malaysian or Cathay.

 

[Dasha]

Iain.
So sorry to hear your wife has had some bad experiences. We have had 28 international and domestic flights with Garuda and never had a bad one yet .. all very very good in fact. A shame we can’t say the same for our own Australian carriers who do have a far superior and impeccable reputation for aviation standards. But seem to quite often lack in the area of friendly service and the enviable ability to make their passengers feel comfortable. But ain’t that the old Indonesian know how compared to the rest of the Western world?