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