Rusdi Kirana, Lion Mentari Airlines CEO: I am nobody's front man  

The National Committee on Transportation Safety (KNKT) has yet to complete its investigation on the crash of Lion Air flight JT 960 just outside Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport, on April 13. But last month, the KNKT released an early report, recommending that Lion Air upgrade the capacity of their pilots and the procedures covering their tasks during emergencies, specifically on the issue of pilot control.

Some observers interpret the recommendations as an indication of human error as a cause of the Lion Air crash last April. It is public knowledge that they have been concerned over the shortage of qualified human resources to accommodate the major expansion the low-cost carrier is currently undertaking. As such, they worry that the pilots and crew must work beyond the limits of their capacity. The use of a foreign copilot with few flying hours on that fateful flight due to the shortage of pilots domestically has become a big problem. The month-old Boeing 737-800 Lion Air aircraft which landed on the water just meters before the Ngurah Rai runway, is part of the planned expansion. That plane was purchased along with 201 other Boeing aircraft, for a cool Rp214 trillion (about US$21.8 billion), the agreement of which was signed by Rusdi Kirana, Lion Air CEO and witnessed by US President Barack Obama, in November 2011. Three weeks before the April crash, Rusdi sat with Airbus CEO, Fabrice Bregier at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France to sign the purchase agreement involving 234 A-320 Airbus aircraft, valued at Rp233 trillion. Behind them, witnessing the monumental agreement was French President Francois Hollande.

The crash in Bali hit Rusdi hard. "After that, I couldn't sleep. Normally, no matter what the situation a difficult meeting or negotiations nothing would prevent me from going to sleep," said Rusdi. Yet two weeks after the crash, they launched Batik Air, as if to clean out the competition of full-service airlines. At the end of this year, they expect their high-tech repairs and maintenance hangars they are building, to become operational.

Last week, Rusdi met with Tempo reporters Agoeng Wijaya and Qaris Tajudin in his eighth-floor office at Lion Tower, in Central Jakarta. Excerpts:

An early KNKT report on the crash in Bali of one of your Lion Air planes recommended that the airline upgrade its pilots, citing he had only 1,200 hours flying time.

If the report concludes the copilot is the reason for the crash, I think they are wrong. The airplane was captained by a pilot who attained far more than 15,000 flying hours. If he had insufficient flying hours, then they can make a case out of it.

The copilot of that flight was an Indian citizen. Is Indonesia short of pilots?

Yes, we are short of pilots. That is why we built the Angkasa Flying School, hoping to train 300 pilots a year. Today, we have trained six generations of pilots.

We understand that foreign pilots, especially the young ones, have been eyeing Indonesian airlines like Lion Air because of the many routes they cover. And they are willing to be paid cheaply so long as they can get their flying hours.

It is not true they are paid cheaply. Pilots get US$4,500 and copilots get US$3,500-4,500 per month. Indonesian pilots get the same. As for trying to achieve flying hours, it's their right to do so.

Lion airplanes have the most accidents. Is this an indication of inadequate maintenance?

I don't want to be seen as avoiding the issue, but we never cut down on our maintenance budget. Right now we are renting a hangar owned by the navy in Surabaya, cooperating with the Garuda Maintenance Facilities, even sending our engines to Singapore Technologies Aerospace or to Germany for maintenance and repairs. I am unlikely to get bank loans if I didn't fulfill these responsibilities. They are bound to audit us.

The recent crash in Bali has added to the list of accidents involving your airplanes. Before that, Lion Air overshot the runway at Supadio Airport in Pontianak.

If we are seen to have many accidents, it's because of our frequency of flights. In one day, we fly 700 times. This is not only in big cities but also in remote areas. With such high frequency, we are likely to be seen with the most problems. But this doesn't mean we do not deal with our shortcomings or consider us as being problem-free.

In 2011, you bought Boeing planes. This year, it was Airbus. The manufacturers of these planes didn't object?

I did this because I wanted to show Boeing and Airbus I control them not the other way around. They protested, of course, but what the heck, it's my money after all. We are independent. We are an independent country, I am an independent citizen. So if Boeing doesn't like it, I go to Airbus, and the reverse. If I stay loyal to one producer but he then doesn't like me, where would I go?

Hundreds of these airplanes you ordered cost trillions of rupiah. Where did you get the money?

Bank loans.

What did you use as guarantee? Last year Forbes estimated your wealth to be about Rp8.5 trillion.

Forbes miscalculated (laughing). The same question was asked by some ministers and I replied I'm promoting this country. What I'm promoting is the Red and White (national flag). I go back and forth to the US Exim Bank, not to promote myself. It's the same when I'm in France to buy Airbus (planes). What I promote is the prospect of this nation. Indonesia, spread out from Sumatra to Papua over 5,000 kilometers, 230 million people, an economy growing at 7 percent and the cheapest air transportation anywhere. They think, funding this man would be the most logical thing to do.

But many people are saying you are just a front, managing foreign investors' money.

First, I don't care what people say. Second, if that was true, I'm a good front man. But the honest answer is that it is not true I am fronting for other people. Right now, this company is 100 percent mine and my older brother's. Why after we were successful, Rusdi Kirana was summoned to the DPR (House of Representatives) and cursed because they think foreigners are behind us. Unattractive as we are, I am proud of carrying the green passport of an Indonesian citizen. Should I become a Singaporean citizen for you to respect me?

Rusdi told Tempo that one of his many dreams is to prove that he can master the airline business in ASEAN. He also spoke of Lion Air's frequent flight delays often complained by passengers, elaborate about the launch of Batik Air, and shared his feelings about the Bali crash.

The complete interview is available in the June 17-23 edition of Tempo English Weekly, out in stands now.