Fasten your seat belts

Fasten your seat belts

Allow me to complain about the discomfort and security in a
Lion Air flight from Makassar-Denpasar on board JT 0741 on July
10 (flight time at 9:53 Central Indonesia Standard Time).

My ticket was No. 99077718672681 and my seat was No. 37 E.

The check-in was crowded because one counter was used for two
destinations (Denpasar and Manado) while only one scale was used.

I came about one and a-half hours ahead of my schedule but had
to waste most of this time as I did not get my boarding pass
until 15 minutes prior to my flight

I was the last to board the plane. I was given a seat that I
disliked but I had to take it as there was no other choice. The
seat belt was broken and could not be used.

I complained right away about my seat belt to the air-hostess
on duty, Ms P, just before the airplane door was closed. She
reported my complaint to the technical crew in charge
immediately, but the problem remained unsolved.

Ms P later demonstrated safety and emergency procedures to the
passengers in accordance with the International Safety Regulation
standards in civil aviation but this regulation, unfortunately,
did not apply to me.

When the safety demo was over, I complained about my seat belt
again for the second time and got the reply that they would find
me another seat. Unfortunately, as it was perhaps very close to
take-off time, the air-hostesses took their seats and I was left
in mine, one with a high risk in the absence of a security
guarantee.

After the seat belt light switched off, I, for the third
time, went up to one of the air-hostesses and complained about my
seat. To my astonishment, she lightly inquired why I had not
complained about this earlier. I wondered whether the air crew of
Lion Air knew their job descriptions well.

Whether or not I complained about my seat, it should have been
compulsory for the air crew concerned to check every passenger
before takeoff and landing.

Only after my problem turned into a slightly noisy argument
with several passengers around me watching, was I moved to seat
7B. I have to mention here that despite this new seat, I remained
uncomfortable throughout the flight until the plane landed safely
in Denpasar.

When all other passengers had left the plane, I complained
about this matter to Filemon, the flight's captain. We both
checked seat 37E. This was followed by all the air crew admitting
their mistake and tendering their greatest apologies to me for
this inconvenience.

Until now I have not received any formal response from Lion
Air about this matter. As nothing untoward happened to me during
this particular flight, I believe it is simply a matter of case-
closed for Lion Air.

JIMMY TURANGAN
Jakarta