Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Rizieq Shihab, the frontman of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), returned to his hometown after 3 years living in Saudi Arabia. He fly towards Soekarno Hatta Airport, Tangerang, with cheers from the crowd, which resulted in a severe traffic jam leading to the airport.
Apart from the hustle and bustle of enthusiastic supporters of Rizieq who picked them up, airport officials, airline crews, and prospective passengers who were scheduled to fly that morning, Tuesday (10/11) were trapped.
As a result, there was a mass delay which resulted in the airline being forced to reschedule flights (reschedule) or refund the plane ticket (refund) for potential affected passengers.
Director General of Air Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation, Novie Riyanto, said that at least 5,951 prospective aircraft passengers were affected by traffic jams welcoming Rizieq’s return.
From there, Novie noted that 263 flights experienced flight delays or delay up to 1-4 hours.
Not only had an impact on airlines and passengers, airport operators were also affected, he said that the six airports operated by PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero) had requested an extension of operating hours due to delays that occurred.
He also noted the damage to airport facilities, namely two sets of chairs in the arrival area and plantations at Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta airport.
However, Aviation Observer Gatot Raharjo assessed that the series of economic losses suffered by passengers and airlines as a result of Rizieq’s pickup was far greater than that experienced by airport operators.
This is because flight delays that occur at one airport have resulted in a series of disruptions to other airports because the aircraft used are connected to other routes.
“For example, planes from Jakarta to Surabaya, continue to Bali and so on. So delaynot only in Jakarta, but also in other cities, “he told CNNIndonesia.com, Wednesday (11/11).
Not to mention, the airline’s loss of covering the affected passenger’s accommodation by providing flexibility reschedule or refund.
Of course, refund will make the airline’s pockets more and more collapsed in the midst of low airline occupancy.
The operational costs will automatically increase. Gatot said that the waste of avtur fuel from the prepared aircraft and the cancellation of passengers was a factor that caused the airline to lose money.
He admitted that he was concerned and at the same time likened the condition of an airline that had fallen on a ladder. Unfortunately, due to falling income, busy slashing prices to attract limited passenger candidates, now have to bear the loss of operational disruptions.
According to Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA), currently airlines only fly with a capacity of about 30 percent of normal or 2.5 million passengers per month. That figure is far from last 2019 which was around 8 million people per month.
“Poor airlines. At the time of the corona pandemic, revenues had fallen and had to reduce operating costs, coupled with this condition (yesterday) there will certainly be additional costs,” he added.
For passengers, the potential losses incurred are not only experienced by one flight delay. But also, the next flight for those who do transit or who buy a round trip ticket on the same day.
Not to mention, delayed or canceled community activities are also another disadvantage factor, especially for those who fly for business activities.
Seeing the scale of the losses incurred, Gatot regretted the incident. According to him, the security and airport managers should have been able to anticipate this.
Toh, unlike unpredictable calamities. In fact, coordination can be carried out by the airport together with the police, so that mass build-up can be avoided.
If you have this, in the end the airlines, the public, including the airport operators must suffer losses.
“Yes, it can only suffer losses. Who will compensate? Because it’s the masses. Think of it force majeure, although in fact it can be conditioned before by state and airport security officers, “said Gatot.
Aviation Observer Arista Atmajati also questioned the readiness of the airport management in simulating the risk mitigation of this incident.
Moreover, he assessed that massive disturbances were not unprecedented, such as floods or blackouts that had disrupted the airport system as a whole.
In fact, if the management had carried out a simulation beforehand, the crowd could be directed so that the delay of passengers and crew could be minimized.
For the aviation industry, he said, the kind of disruption that is most affected is the rotation of the aircraft. As a result, airline flight hours which should have been full, were cut by around 5-6 hours.
There are potential losses of course, but calculations cannot be done overnight. Reflecting on his experience working in airlines for more than 20 years, he certainly predicts that the losses incurred by airlines will not be too significant.
Arista estimates that the airline’s loss is only 5 percent of normal income. “It’s only a few hours, if it’s only 5-6 hours, it’s small (loss),” he said.
He only hopes that in the future the management will be more alert in dealing with similar disruptions.
Separately, a number of airlines said they had not calculated the amount of losses due to the crowd to pick up Rizieq.
PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, for one thing, admits that it has not made any calculations because it is still focused on taking care of passenger needs. “We haven’t collected data yet. This is still the focus of passenger affairs,” explained Garuda CEO Irfaniaputra.
Lion Air Group Strategic Corporate Communication Danang Mandala Prihantoro said that since 04.00-12.00 WIB, Tuesday (10/11), there has been a delay in departure with an average delay of 72 minutes on Lion Air and 62 minutes on Batik Air due to waiting for a number of trapped passengers. congestion.
Meanwhile, the number of departures from Soekarno Hatta Airport during operational hours was affected as many as 43 flights. It consists of 17 Lion Air flights and 26 Batik Air flights.
However, Danang could not mention the total losses incurred. “Regarding this, I can not provide information,” he concluded.
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