Garuda Cancels 11 Domestic and International Flights
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Garuda Cancels 11 Domestic and International Flights
Is there more than just a upgrade system problem...for the last few days... or lack of pilots or even worst pilot refuse to work..by the garuda pilot union on recruiting expat pilot with a big fat salary compared to locals...
Jakarta globe... 23 November 2010..
Despite two days of chaos with Garuda Indonesia’s flight scheduling and hundreds of stranded passengers, the flag carrier says it will not be able to return to normal operations until Thursday.
As many as 737 passengers from six flights had to spend Sunday night in hotels, at a cost to Garuda of Rp 240 million ($27,000), as a result of a crew rotation system malfunction.
On Monday, four flights were canceled, to Medan, Palembang, Pangkal Pinang and Yogyakarta, but all passengers were transferred to other flights.
The airline warned that 13 flights would be canceled today, but said all passengers would be booked onto alternative flights.
“We have already informed passengers that 13 flights — one to Kuala Lumpur, two to Medan, four to Palembang, three to Semarang, one to Makassar and two to Surabaya — have been canceled,” said Agus Priyanto, Garuda’s director of commercial operations.
“We have already called our customers and asked that they choose other flights.”
Garuda said the problems were caused by the loss of crew rotation data during the switch-over to a new operations system.
Crew rotation is one of three components, along with aircraft rotation and flight dispatch, handled by the new $1.5 million Integrated Operation Control System.
The crew rotation system was down for four hours on Friday, resulting in the loss of all its crew members’ flight schedule data.
“The airlines industry is a regulated industry — there are variables we need to comply with, especially on crew flight hours. There are some limitations on that,” Garuda’s president director, Emirsyah Satar, said at a press conference on Monday.
“But, because of the downed system, it’s all mixed up with crew members that were not supposed to fly called in to work.”
The IOCS is used by SkyTeam Alliance members such as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air and Air France. Garuda is scheduled to sign up as a member of the alliance today.
“What we are doing now is backing up the data manually, which we expect to be completed by November 25,” Emirsyah said, adding that the airline would be refunding tickets.
“The management apologizes to our customers and also flight crew for this mess, and we will investigate the incident thoroughly — especially how the new system works. However, I must stress here that we will still be using this system because nothing is wrong with the software or hardware — one unplugged cable caused us to lose all the crew schedule data.”
He added that the company would also look into improving its backup systems.
Jakarta post... 23rd November 2010..
Garuda Indonesia has laid the groundwork to soar higher in global and regional arenas — but mishaps involving its new IT system are threatening to clip the wings of the country’s flagship carrier.
Monday saw a continuation of the previous day’s events: Delays and the cancellation of flights that left hundreds of furious passengers stranded at several airports throughout the archipelago, including Jakarta.
Garuda’s management issued an apology, saying the delays and cancellations were due to a “technical glitch” in the airline’s newly implemented IT system that controls the flow of flights, pilots, cabin crew and passengers.
The system upgrade, which cost US$1.5 million, is part of the airline’s initiative to improve service before joining SkyTeam, an international airline alliance with carriers such as KLM, Air France, Delta Airlines and Korean Air.
The timing is unfortunate. The problems with Garuda’s system, which are expected to persist until Thursday, have become a serious embarrassment as the airline plans to sign an agreement with SkyTeam today.
Garuda’s vice president for corporate communication, Pudjobroto, told The Jakarta Post that all plans with SkyTeam were still on the table.
“Tomorrow we will sign the deal with SkyTeam,” he said on Monday.
Delays and cancellations on Monday were fewer, Pudjobroto said: The airline successfully processed 87 of 102 scheduled flights.
Cancellations affected flights to and from Jakarta, Medan, Palembang and Yogyakarta, he said. It is unclear how many flights were canceled on Sunday, but more urban airports were affected that day and more stranded passengers spotted.
He said all passengers who missed flights on Sunday had been given accommodations and cash equal to the value of their tickets.
“Those who missed their flights and did not want to travel the next day have been given cash equal to twice the value of their tickets.”
Garuda president director Emir-syah Satar said the company would revert to its old system temporarily to meet the existing flight schedule.
“We target the entire system to be normal by Nov. 25,” Emirsyah said.
Meanwhile, he said, Garuda would not accept new flight bookings until Wednesday. He also added that flight cancellations would continue on Tuesday, affecting 13 flights from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur, Medan, Palembang, Semarang, Makassar and Surabaya.
The repercussions of the technical glitch mean more than financial losses. The company has worked hard to improve its public image to raise Rp 4 trillion (US$448 million)through a public offering of a 40 percent stake in the airline.
Garuda launched a new logo earlier this year to coincide with the introduction of revamped airplanes equipped with individual passenger entertainment systems.
The airline also resumed Jakarta-Amsterdam flights on July 1 using Airbus A330-200 aircraft after the EU Commission lifted a four-year ban on Indonesian airlines. In August, Garuda also launched daily direct flights from Jakarta and Denpasar to Tokyo.
The improvements were acclaimed domestically and internationally. In October, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) named Garuda the best carrier for service quality in Southeast Asia.
The next big boost for Garuda’s image will be its SkyTeam agreement, which will allow Garuda to fly passengers from other alliance member airlines and vice versa, thus increasing flight frequency.
Service improvements and new routes have translated into increased expenses for the airline. Net profits in the first half of 2010 fell to Rp 175 billion compared to Rp 400 billion in the same period last year on rising costs.
Earlier this month the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry said Garuda suffered a Rp 39.51 billion loss in the third quarter, which it later revised, saying Garuda booked a Rp 194.9 billion net profit in the first nine months of 2010.
Jakarta globe... 23 November 2010..
Despite two days of chaos with Garuda Indonesia’s flight scheduling and hundreds of stranded passengers, the flag carrier says it will not be able to return to normal operations until Thursday.
As many as 737 passengers from six flights had to spend Sunday night in hotels, at a cost to Garuda of Rp 240 million ($27,000), as a result of a crew rotation system malfunction.
On Monday, four flights were canceled, to Medan, Palembang, Pangkal Pinang and Yogyakarta, but all passengers were transferred to other flights.
The airline warned that 13 flights would be canceled today, but said all passengers would be booked onto alternative flights.
“We have already informed passengers that 13 flights — one to Kuala Lumpur, two to Medan, four to Palembang, three to Semarang, one to Makassar and two to Surabaya — have been canceled,” said Agus Priyanto, Garuda’s director of commercial operations.
“We have already called our customers and asked that they choose other flights.”
Garuda said the problems were caused by the loss of crew rotation data during the switch-over to a new operations system.
Crew rotation is one of three components, along with aircraft rotation and flight dispatch, handled by the new $1.5 million Integrated Operation Control System.
The crew rotation system was down for four hours on Friday, resulting in the loss of all its crew members’ flight schedule data.
“The airlines industry is a regulated industry — there are variables we need to comply with, especially on crew flight hours. There are some limitations on that,” Garuda’s president director, Emirsyah Satar, said at a press conference on Monday.
“But, because of the downed system, it’s all mixed up with crew members that were not supposed to fly called in to work.”
The IOCS is used by SkyTeam Alliance members such as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air and Air France. Garuda is scheduled to sign up as a member of the alliance today.
“What we are doing now is backing up the data manually, which we expect to be completed by November 25,” Emirsyah said, adding that the airline would be refunding tickets.
“The management apologizes to our customers and also flight crew for this mess, and we will investigate the incident thoroughly — especially how the new system works. However, I must stress here that we will still be using this system because nothing is wrong with the software or hardware — one unplugged cable caused us to lose all the crew schedule data.”
He added that the company would also look into improving its backup systems.
Jakarta post... 23rd November 2010..
Garuda Indonesia has laid the groundwork to soar higher in global and regional arenas — but mishaps involving its new IT system are threatening to clip the wings of the country’s flagship carrier.
Monday saw a continuation of the previous day’s events: Delays and the cancellation of flights that left hundreds of furious passengers stranded at several airports throughout the archipelago, including Jakarta.
Garuda’s management issued an apology, saying the delays and cancellations were due to a “technical glitch” in the airline’s newly implemented IT system that controls the flow of flights, pilots, cabin crew and passengers.
The system upgrade, which cost US$1.5 million, is part of the airline’s initiative to improve service before joining SkyTeam, an international airline alliance with carriers such as KLM, Air France, Delta Airlines and Korean Air.
The timing is unfortunate. The problems with Garuda’s system, which are expected to persist until Thursday, have become a serious embarrassment as the airline plans to sign an agreement with SkyTeam today.
Garuda’s vice president for corporate communication, Pudjobroto, told The Jakarta Post that all plans with SkyTeam were still on the table.
“Tomorrow we will sign the deal with SkyTeam,” he said on Monday.
Delays and cancellations on Monday were fewer, Pudjobroto said: The airline successfully processed 87 of 102 scheduled flights.
Cancellations affected flights to and from Jakarta, Medan, Palembang and Yogyakarta, he said. It is unclear how many flights were canceled on Sunday, but more urban airports were affected that day and more stranded passengers spotted.
He said all passengers who missed flights on Sunday had been given accommodations and cash equal to the value of their tickets.
“Those who missed their flights and did not want to travel the next day have been given cash equal to twice the value of their tickets.”
Garuda president director Emir-syah Satar said the company would revert to its old system temporarily to meet the existing flight schedule.
“We target the entire system to be normal by Nov. 25,” Emirsyah said.
Meanwhile, he said, Garuda would not accept new flight bookings until Wednesday. He also added that flight cancellations would continue on Tuesday, affecting 13 flights from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur, Medan, Palembang, Semarang, Makassar and Surabaya.
The repercussions of the technical glitch mean more than financial losses. The company has worked hard to improve its public image to raise Rp 4 trillion (US$448 million)through a public offering of a 40 percent stake in the airline.
Garuda launched a new logo earlier this year to coincide with the introduction of revamped airplanes equipped with individual passenger entertainment systems.
The airline also resumed Jakarta-Amsterdam flights on July 1 using Airbus A330-200 aircraft after the EU Commission lifted a four-year ban on Indonesian airlines. In August, Garuda also launched daily direct flights from Jakarta and Denpasar to Tokyo.
The improvements were acclaimed domestically and internationally. In October, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) named Garuda the best carrier for service quality in Southeast Asia.
The next big boost for Garuda’s image will be its SkyTeam agreement, which will allow Garuda to fly passengers from other alliance member airlines and vice versa, thus increasing flight frequency.
Service improvements and new routes have translated into increased expenses for the airline. Net profits in the first half of 2010 fell to Rp 175 billion compared to Rp 400 billion in the same period last year on rising costs.
Earlier this month the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry said Garuda suffered a Rp 39.51 billion loss in the third quarter, which it later revised, saying Garuda booked a Rp 194.9 billion net profit in the first nine months of 2010.
