Another Garuda cock-up

Should we trust a pilot who is unable to navigate himself overland to an airport? That was the question I asked myself on Jan. 30 as I waited with about fifty other passengers for a Garuda Indonesia flight to take off for Sumatra.

Yes, the weather was bad and some toll roads were flooded; but I managed to reach the Soekarno-Hatta airport in less than one hour from southwest Jakarta, using an alternative route.

Apparently, the pilot and co-pilot, who we were all waiting for some four-and-a-half hours, lived much closer!

To make matters worse, Garuda did not bother to billet any of its cockpit crews in airport accommodation during the current deluge, had no alternative cockpit crew and during our long wait were unable to give us any clear information on when the pilot and his co-pilot would deign to arrive.

Garuda's waiting-room staff were obliged to handle this logistical cock-up without any assistance from the management which, conveniently for them, could not be contacted. Eventually flight GA172 was canceled and we were informed that it was "company policy" not to offer even a single rupiah in compensation to stranded passengers.

If this is the new, revamped Garuda Indonesia then I would suggest its current, expensive advertising campaign is fighting a losing battle in what appears to be a futile effort to improve Garuda's image.

FRANK RICHARDSON

Tangerang, Banten