TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A number of the Indonesian Air Traffic Controller Association (IATCA) staff members were transferred to the stations outside the capital. There are allegations of the transfer was because they protested about the excess capacity of aircraft movement at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, which they believe is a threat to flight safety.
"We are transferred to various regions," IATCA deputy chair Andre Budi said on Thursday, July 27.
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The Jakarta IATCA DPC chairman Ahmad Zakaria regretted the administrative sanctions given to their members. "This harms our efforts and commitment in improving the quality of Indonesian aviation safety," Ahmad said in a release.
Ahmad said the administrative sanctions are a bad incident for the safety culture of Indonesia's aviation industry. He said it is ironic that their "professionalism and efforts to remind the management and the government of potential aviation safety hazards have resulted in sanctions."
The IATCA Jakarta said flight safety at Soekarno-Hatta Airport is at risk due to the policy to increase aircraft's traffic capacity by more than 76 flights per hour.
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The Association sent an open letter addressed to the President, the Transportation Minister, the SOEs Minister, and the Civil Aviation Community about the issue.
What followed was "ignorance over this violation and fact-twisting; making it seem like what they did was based on the demand to get their salaries raised," Ahmad said.
JONIANSYAH HARDJONO
