Flying with Merpati

Working in Indonesia means a lot of traveling by plane, as it is a huge country. Most domestic flights are operated by Merpati, which causes the following inconveniences.

Many of their flights are heavily delayed. Having connecting flights or important meetings makes a trip with Merpati a real adventure. On top of all this, flights are often canceled without any prior notice to passengers, giving "technical problems" as the reason. Are Merpati planes really that unreliable?

Another very annoying fact is the hygienic situation on board. On most of my flights, I found myself accompanied by dozens of cockroaches.

THOMAS KUHNDORFER

Bandung, West Java