Garuda delays<\/p>\n
I nearly fell out of my chair in disbelief reading that
\n\"Soepandi told reporters that Garuda had never been involved in
\ndelayed flights\" (The Jakarta Post, July 19, 1996). To give just
\na few examples, flight 958 to Manila on Feb. 16, 1996, 436 to
\nYogyakarta on March 21, 980 to Denpasar on May 16, all left
\nJakarta around 30 minutes late. Do I assume that Soepandi regards
\nthis as on time? Presumably the flight crews did, as there was no
\napology or explanation for the passengers. It seems that in order
\nto receive such common courtesy, the plane must be at least an
\nhour late, like flight 865 leaving Denpasar on May 19. I doubt if
\nan altogether more recent and tragic flight, 865, left Denpasar
\non time also.<\/p>\n
It would be nice to see the record put straight concerning
\ndelayed flights by Garuda. But as their president does not appear
\nto understand the meaning of the word \"delayed,\" we clearly
\ncannot expect correct information from that source.<\/p>\n
After the \"never delayed\" rubbish, we found that 10 percent of
\nflights left over one hour late during a selected period. Far
\nfrom being committed to improving this sorry state of affairs,
\nSoepandi appears to be satisfied. Does he think the public is
\nsatisfied too? I can only imagine that he does, especially after
\nreading Garuda's May in-flight magazine, when he boasts of \"one
\nof the most modern fleets in Asia.\" Airbus A330-300 and MD11ER
\naircraft are listed, neither of which Garuda operates! Is this a
\ndeliberate attempt to deceive or simply carelessness?<\/p>\n
As those of us in the real world are aware, Garuda has one of
\nthe oldest fleets in Asia, with DC10s, Airbus A300B4s and Boeing
\n747-200s.<\/p>\n
Is Soepandi aware that many, many foreigners here would not
\ndream of flying abroad with Garuda, and some not even
\ndomestically? Within Indonesia we have little choice. Not so
\ninternationally.<\/p>\n
I have traveled in Asia on many of the national flag carriers,
\nand found Garuda the poorest for service, punctuality and
\naircraft. This is perhaps not surprising with a president so
\nhopelessly complacent and out of touch with his cu<\/p>\n
ROBERT WOOD<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/garuda-delays-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }