Govt to Fix the Aviation Sector

 
Christina Desy, Fitri Novia Heriani
 
Alarmed by the tragedy of AirAsia QZ8501, the Ministry of Transportation has been urged to immediately improve the aviation sector. The Ministry has responded to this demand by issuing a new regulation to set the airfare price floor for economy class. In addition, the Ministry has also audited names of Indonesian airline which resulted in a total of 61 licensing violations from Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air, Wings Air, Trans Nusa and Susi Air.
 
Surprised by the findings, Minister of TransportationIgnatius Jonanimposed sanctions by suspending the licenses of the airlines that committing violation. According to Mr. Jonan, there has been maladministration under the Ministry, although he couldn’t figure when exactly the it started.
 
Mr. Jonan, however, asserted that the maladministration is caused by omission, not bribery. Should there be any indication of such illegal action, Mr. Jonan will inform and cooperate with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) immediately.
 
In the meantime, Mr. Jonan has fired, transferred, or deactivated several officers from the Directorate General of Air Transportation who are proven to be involved with the violations. Those officers comprise of three Echelon II officers, seven Echelon III officers, and one Principal Operator Inspector.
 
“The sanctions are imposed accordingly, based on Governmental Regulation No. 53 of 2010 on Discipline of Civil Servants,” Mr. Jonan saidlast Friday.
 
As a follow up, Mr. Jonan has instructed the Acting Director General (Plt) of Air Transportation to enhance the monitoring over the implementation of prevailing laws and regulations on aviation. Mr. Jonan also encouraged the Directorate General of Air Transportation to promote the role of airport authority, evaluate the functions of Indonesia Slot Coordinator (IDSC), and increase the compensation for the Principal Operation Inspector and Principal Maintenance Inspector who are assigned to supervise the airlines.
 
“In all, we need to develop an online system which transparently shows every flight route and schedule of any airline operating in Indonesia,” Mr. Jonan closed his statement.
 
Sharing Mr. Jonan’s view, J.A. Barata, Head of Public Communication Center at the Ministry, supported the online system development. To Mr. Barata’s belief, the online system will help preventing more maladministration which occurs due to the fast and simple aviation licensing procedure.
 
Currently, the procedure simply requires the airline to obtain the flying slot from the IDSC before finally securing the flying license for certain route from the Directorate General of Air Transportation. The process usually takes up to eight days at the longest, or even shorter in case of temporary flight schedule changing.
 
(hot/kc)