Indonesia has suspended the air operator’s certificate (AOC) of one well-known commercial airline and the AOCs of eight lesser known players that operated small regional aircraft.
Directorate General of Air Communications (DGAC) director of air certification office, Yurlis Hasibuan, says the AOC of Jatayu Gelang Sejahtera “has been revoked effective today”.
Jatayu, which used to be one of Indonesia’s major passenger airlines, as of August last year stopped operating but Hasibuan says the airline’s owners were planning to resume operations using one Boeing 737-200 for passenger services from Medan, on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, to Penang in Malaysia.
The DGAC revoked its AOC because it only had one aircraft, the requirement in Indonesia is that airlines must have at least two aircraft, and it “was lacking in pilots and human resources”, says Hasibuan.
He adds, the 737-200 was old and needed to undergo a ‘C-check’ which would have cost $120,000.
While Jatayu is the most prominent airline to lose its AOC, because it was planning to operate 150-seat aircraft; Hasibuan says the DGAC also suspended some “charter and commuter” airlines that operate aircraft seating less than 30-passengers.
News reports in Indonesia - quoting from a DGAC statement - say eight airlines, operating aircraft 30-seats or less, have just lost AOCs.
The reports list the airlines as: Germania Trisila Air, PT SMAC, PT Kua-Kua Aviation, PT Atlas Deltasatya, Survei Udara Penas, Air Transport Services, PT Helizona and PT Sayap Garuda Indah.
Hasibuan at the DGAC says his department is responsible for carrying out the airline safety audits that ultimately determine whether an airline’s AOC is suspended.
He says the safety audits are quarterly and the June audit revealed Adam Air and Garuda Indonesia have improved since the March audit.
The audits cover “20 criteria including whether the airline has developed [better] safety and human resources”, says Hasibuan.
“Garuda’s safety improved because they have [better human] resources and training.”
“Adam Air’s safety improved because they improved the culture” within the organisation and “hired a safety consultant from America” called GHS Aviation.
He says Garuda aims to pass the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) in August and “Adam Air also plans to have IATA IOSA after they complete with the safety consultant from America.”
Hasibuan adds, the DGAC has been encouraging airlines in Indonesia to buy flight monitoring equipment and software from companies such as Canada’s Flightscape.
The AOCs that have just been cancelled occurred after the June audit, while the four airline AOCs cancelled earlier this year occurred after the March audit.
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- Indonesia cancels some airline AOCs over safety concerns
Source: FlightGlobal.com
