Lion Air Has Grounded 40 Pilots

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Airline company, Lion Air, has imposed sanctions and grounded 40 of its pilots as punishment for their involvement in a strike on May 10 at the Soekarno-Hatta airport.

Lion's President Director Edward Sirait said after attending a hearing at Commission V on transportation affairs of the House of Representatives (DPR) that his company was issuing certain directives to the pilots.

"We are about to finish providing guidance to them. Some of the pilots have carried out the directives and have begun flying again," Edward announced.

He claimed that even though his company had grounded tens of pilots, it did not allow the flight operations of Lion Air to be disturbed. "We have 2,500 pilots in the Lion Group and 1,000 others for Lion Air. It did not significantly affect the flight operations," he stated.

The pilots' strike caused a delay in a number of Lion flights at the Soekarno-Hatta airport on May 10. Lion Air was sanctioned and will not be given new flight routes for six months.

However, Lion objected to the sanction and reported the director general of air transportation, Suprasetyo, to the police on May 16. The Lion  report included its objection to the temporary freezing of its operational permit for passenger and cargo ground handling at the Soekarno-Hatta airport.

Commission V member Nizar Zahro clarified that the sanction issued by the director general was in accordance with Article 48 of the Minister's Regulation No. 56/2015 on the Business Activities at Airport.

"The sanction is based on regulation as contained in the minister's decree," Nizar stressed.

He made it clear that all legal references on aviation are regulated under Law No. 1/2009 on flights. All sides must abide by it.

On May 10, Lion Air pilots went on strike at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport, leading to a delay in the low-cost carrier's flights to several regions in Indonesia.

The corporate secretary of state airport operator Angkasa Pura I, Farid Indra Nugraha, observed in a press statement released on Tuesday that his side has been in close touch with the representatives of the Lion Air Group at the airport.

Farid pointed out that his side had made efforts to ensure that the airline is able to serve the passengers despite the delay in flights.

"In response to the Lion Air pilots' strike at several airports under the purview of Angkasa Pura I, we called on the passengers to understand the condition and be patient," he informed.

The strike led to a delay in Lion Air flights from Sam Ratulangi Ariport in Manado, North Sulawesi, Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Lombok International Airport in West Nusa Tenggara, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, and Adisutjipto Airport in Yogyakarta.

Public relations manager of the Lion Air Group, Andy M Saladin, denied that the pilots had gone on strike because they had not received transport allowances.

Meanwhile, Lion Air President Director Edward Sirait ventured that the fact that some of the airline's pilots fell sick and there was an administrative problem had led to flight delays.

"We, on behalf of the Lion Air Management, apologize for the inconvenience," he said. (WDY)