Atas permintaan banyak pihak, untuk saya ,menuangkan tulisan menyambut dicabutnya larangan terbang ke Eropa ,saya telah menurunkan tulisan dalam bahasa Inggris di Harian Jakarta Post. Tulisan ini kebetulan sekali adalah atas permintaan Redaksi Jakpost, langsung kepada saya. Permintaan saya terima saat saya tengah berada nun jauh disana, di luar Jakarta, namun karena saya merasa sangat dihargai oleh pihak Jakpost, maka saya langsung menyiapkannya untuk itu.
Komunikasi antara saya dengan pihak redaktur di Jakpost memang terjalin dengan sangat baik, berlandaskan “mutual respect” sebagaimana hubungan komunikasi yang biasa terbangun dikalangan orang terpelajar. Segera setelah saya kirim via email, dalam hitungan jam saya sudah memperoleh kabar tentang telah diterimanya naskah saya tersebut. Selanjutnya, sebelum 24 jam berlalu, saya sudah memperoleh pemberitahuan tentang akan dimuatnya tulisan saya itu pada hari dan tanggal yang telah dipilih redaksi.Saya tidak sempat untuk bertanya-tanya dalam hati, apakah naskah saya itu akan dimuat atau tidak, karena bila terlambat maka dia akan menjadi “out of date”. Jakarta Post telah memberikan kemudahan bagi saya untuk berbagi, hal ini tentunya tidak terlepas dari peran Pemred dan mereka para pengasuh rubrik opini di Jakpost ! terimakasih banyak Pak !
Dibawah ini saya sajikan kembali naskah tulisan saya yang telah dimuat The Jakarta Post pada edisi 12 Juli yang lalu.Maaf kali ini, saya baru menurunkan komentar saya tentang “lift of the EU ban” dalam bahasa Inggris. Versi bahasa Indonesia, karena banyak titik tinjau yang dapat digunakan dalam menyorotinya, maka baru akan saya posting kemudian, harapan saya agar kita semua dapat bersabar. Terimakasih.
Fresh wind blew from Brussels in the first week of July 2009. As we already know, the three-day hearing of the European Union Air Safety Committee in the Belgium capital from June 30 to July 2, 2009 has discussed and issued recommendations on some important topics, among others, on recommendations to repeal flight restrictions to Europe for Indonesian airlines.
It is expected that the EU will remove the ban in stages, with four airlines – Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines, Airfast Indonesia and Premi Air – to begin with.
This progress should be welcomed as it indicates that the prestige, honor and dignity of the Indonesian community or airlines has won back trust, at least from the European Union. However, does it also mean that our national airline has been able to reach the highest level of security, appropriate to fly or meet international demands and requirements? Let’s refer to this process from the beginning.
The European Union ban, which has been imposed since July 2007, was actually a response from the European Union toward the high frequency of aircraft accidents that occurred in Indonesia.
In this case we need to realize that sanctions are to be referred to the action of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), which downgraded the aviation authority of the Republic of Indonesia to the 2nd category, i.e., as unsafe or failing to meet requirement.
The requirement refers to the ICAO Standard Flying Safety. ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) itself, after the audit on Indonesia, announced that they finally found 121 diversions from international flight basic safety rules. Based on that diversion, the FAA then downgraded the Indonesia Aviation Authority.
This is actually a basic problem. All Indonesian airlines should not fly to Europe by the European Union aviation authority, which refers to the findings of ICAO.
Although the FAA has not put Indonesia back in the 1st category, the EU has considered Indonesia’s progress and efforts to increase flight safety. One achievement that has won recognition from the EU is the success of Indonesia to complete the regulation (Law No. 1/2009) on aviation. Although in reality, the law still needs some improvement.
The removal of restrictions for Indonesian airlines flying to Europe does not necessarily indicate that the safety level of our airlines has completely met international aircraft safety standards. There is still a lot of work to do.
We all hope the revocation of the EU ban will also lead to increased safety principles carried out by our airlines. Taking necessary measures to comply with the ICAO findings is a challenge for everyone because only by complying with the ICAO findings, will our national flight safety levels be measured as meeting international standards.
The most important lesson to be learned from the EU ban is to continue to improve the flight safety of our airlines. If our airlines really meet the ICAO standard regulations, no other countries or groupings, including the European Union, can impose such flight bans in the future.
Chappy Hakim , Jakarta | Sun, 07/12/2009 11:09 AM | Opinion
The writer is Chairman of Civil Aviation Transformation Team, Advisory Board.
