Irate passengers take Batavia crew hostage

Irate passengers take Batavia crew hostage

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

At least 31 angry passengers held several crew members of a
Batavia Air airplane hostage here after their flight to Jakarta
was delayed for around nine hours at Juanda Airport until Friday
morning.

Rudy Herlambang, one of the protesters, said the passengers
had to take action because Batavia broke its promise and tried to
deliberately cancel the flight as fewer than half of the plane's
100 seats were filled.

"We were forced to do that because Batavia Air sought reasons
to delay the plane's departure," he told The Jakarta Post.

Batavia staffers at the airport said the delay was due to a
technical problem with the plane's wheels.

The flight was scheduled to leave Surabaya at 8:30 p.m. on
Thursday night, but until 11 p.m. it remained uncertain when the
plane was to depart.

This made the ill-fated passengers more frustrated and they
demanded a direct meeting with Batavia's Surabaya manager Dedy
Rudianto.

The passengers later held three female flight attendants and
two security guards hostage by preventing them from leaving the
waiting room along with them.

"We seized a cellular phone and a wristwatch from one of the
security guards as collateral, while we told him to find Dedy,"
Rudy said.

Hours later, Dedy appeared to meet the passengers who then
angrily voiced their grievances.

Rudy said several of the passengers tried to beat Dedy and
damage Batavia's facilities, but eventually refrained from
venting their anger as the manager assured them that a plane was
to arrive soon.

Dedy also offered the passengers an overnight stay at a hotel
before their departure on Friday morning.

But the offer failed to console them. "You think we could not
afford to pay to stay in a hotel? The point is that we want to
leave for Jakarta now," yelled another passenger as quoted by
Rudy.

Amid the heated debate, the passengers wrote a letter
complaining about the poor service they received from Batavia
Air.

"Through the letter we will sue Batavia Air for Rp 500 million
(US$58,823) in compensation over the delay," Rudy said. It was
not immediately clear if they were serious about taking legal
action against the airline.

Eventually, the stranded passengers left on Friday morning
aboard a Batavia Air plane that had just arrived from Pontianak,
West Kalimantan.

"The plane scheduled to depart at 8:30 p.m on Thursday
eventually left at 5:30 a.m. on Friday," Batavia's check-in
counter officer Anita said.

She denied the incident was a hostage-taking drama at the
waiting room, saying it was merely a case of "misunderstanding".

Dedy could not be reached for comment.