Merpati Nusantara Airlines

Merpati Nusantara
IATA ICAO Callsign
MZ MNA MERPATI
Founded 6 September 1962
Hubs Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
Ngurah Rai International Airport
Juanda International Airport
Frequent-flyer program Merpati EasyFlyer
Airport lounge Merpati Lounge
Fleet size 39 (+23 orders)
Destinations 84
Company slogan The Air Bridge of Indonesia
Headquarters Central Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
Key people Capt. Asep Ekanugraha - CEO
Website www.merpati.co.id

PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines, operating as Merpati Nusantara Airlines, was an airline in Indonesia based in Central Jakarta, Jakarta. It was a major domestic airline operating scheduled services to more than 25 destinations in Indonesia, as well as scheduled international services to East Timor and Malaysia. Its main base was Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta.[1] The word merpati is Indonesian for "dove", and Nusantara is a Javanese word found in the Pararaton ("the Book of Kings", probably written in the 16th century) and meaning "the outer islands" and now referring to the Indonesian archipelago. Merpati is also listed in category 1 by Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority for airline safety quality[2] and plans to get IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) from International Air Transport Association. It had a maintenance facility based at Juanda International Airport, Surabaya [3] as well as a simulator facility at the Merpati Training Centre in Surabaya which housed a Fokker F-27, AVIC MA60 and CN-235 full motion simulators.

Merpati suspended all services in early February 2014 due to cashflow problems, including an inability to obtain fuel on credit, obliging the company to pay cash. [4] On July 24 2014 it was reported that the Indonesian Ministry of Finance had decided not to reopen the company following the airlines' accumulating a debt of 7.9 trillion Rp, as well as the failure of a debt-to-equity-swap plan proposed by the company.[5]

History

A Merpati Nusantara Vickers Vanguard 953 in 1977

The airline was established and started operations on 6 September 1962. It was set up by the Indonesian government as the second state airline, with the main objective of taking over the network of domestic services developed by the Air Force since 1958. During 1962, it also took over the routes in West Irian (formerly Dutch New Guinea) previously operated by KLM subsidiary, De Kroonduif, which had been flown by Garuda since 1962.

With a start up capital of 10 million rupiah, Merpati began operations in Kalimantan, using a fleet of four de Havilland Otter/DHC-3s and two DC-3 Dakotas provided by the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU). Pilots and technicians were supplied by the Indonesian Air Force, Garuda Indonesia Airways and other civil aviation companies. Its mission, defined by the government, was to become an 'air bridge' linking remote areas of Indonesia and thereby helping to build the economies of such regional areas. The air bridge theme is the basis of the current Merpati logo, displayed on the tails of its aircraft.

The first Managing Director appointed was Air Commodore Sutoyo Adiputro Henk (1962–1966) who had an initial staff of 17 people. In 1963, the airline expanded its routes to include Jakarta - Tanjung Karang (Bandar Lampung), Jakarta - Semarang, and Jakarta - Balikpapan. In 1964, the airline took over operations from NV de Kroonduif Garuda, increasing its aircraft fleet to 12. With the addition of three DC-3 Dakotas, two DHC-6 Twin Otters and 1 DHC-2 Beaver, Merpati began to grow, with operations now reaching Sumatra, Papua and Nusa Tenggara Barat. Further expansion saw the addition of more aircraft, including three Dornier DO-28s and six Pilatus Porter PC-6s, and staff numbers growing to 583 people.

In October 1978, the airline was taken over by Garuda, but continued to operate under its own name. Merpati was integrated into the Garuda Indonesia Group in September 1989, but was granted government permission to separate in 1993, although the split did not actually take place until April 1997. The airline was jointly owned by the Indonesian Government (93.2%) and Garuda Indonesia (6.8%).

In June 2011, the Merpati commercial director stated that the airline was opening a tender for 15 jet airliners, including 40 aircraft with a capacity of 50 passengers and 20 additional aircraft carrying 20 passengers, such as the MA-60, the NC-212 or DHC-6 Twin Otter.[6] The following month, with the airline suffering from financial difficulties, the government and the legislature agreed to provide a capital injection of Rp.516 billion ($60.7 million) to Merpati Nusantara Airlines in the 2012 state budget.[7]

Corporate affairs

The airline's headquarters were in Central Jakarta.[8][9] Previously, the airline had been based out of Kemajoran Airport.[10]

Destinations

Fleet

The Merpati fleet included the following aircraft (as of December 2013):[11]

Merpati's Boeing 737-217/adv at Adisucipto International Airport, Yogyakarta.
Merpati's new MA60, PK-MZJ parked at El Tari Airport, Kupang, in January 2011
As of 2011, Merpati no longer operates the ATR 72-212 since the arrival of the MA60.
Merpati Nusantara Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Routes Notes
C Y Total
Boeing 737-300 3 8 126 134 Domestic
Boeing 737-400 2 16 142 158 All
Boeing 737-500 1 0 118 118 All
Comac ARJ21-700 0 40 0 118 118
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 5 0 20 20 Domestic
Xian MA60 14 0 56 56 Domestic
Total 25 40 Last updated: March 2014

Previously operated

Merpati Lockheed TriStar at Perth Airport (late 1990s).
Merpati Airbus A310-300 at Perth Airport (late 1990s).

Merpati Training Centre

Merpati Training Centre is a division of Strategic Business Unit and is one of the largest aviation training centres in Indonesia. It conducts ground school courses for pilots, flight attendants, flight operation officers (dispatchers), commercial airline operations and administration staff in the region. The training centre was originally founded in 1994 and known as 'Flight Safety Training' training initially Merpati's own staff, but later changed its name to the Merpati Training Centre (MTC) in 1999. Some of MTC's clients includes the national airline, Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air, Batavia Air, Lion Air, Pelita Air Service among others.

Courses conducted by the MTC include type rating courses for pilots, flight attendants and flight operation officers on the Boeing 737 Classic, AVIC Xian MA60, Fokker F27, CASA CN-235, DHC-6 Twin Otter, CASA C-212 Aviocar, as well as other ground courses including Dangerous Goods Awareness, Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) theory, Cockpit Resources Management (CRM), Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM), Approach and Landing Accident Reduction (ALAR), Safety Management Systems (SMS), Aviation Security (AVSEC) and Windshear Avoidance.

MTC has two campuses located in Jakarta and Surabaya. MTC's Jakarta campus is located on 11th Floor of the Merpati Building in Kemayoran, whereas the Surabaya campus is located at Juanda International Airport.

Merpati Pilot School

Merpati Pilot School's Cessna 172, PK-MSH at Juanda International Airport, Surabaya

On 16 February 2010, the Merpati Pilot School, a department of the MTC, was officially launched at Surabaya's Juanda International Airport. The flying school was awarded its Part 141 certification from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on 18 August 2009 and currently has a fleet of four Cessna C172s, registered PK-MSA, PK-MSH, PK-MSN and PK-MST. Ground school for cadet pilots are conducted at the Merpati Training Centre in Surabaya, and flight training is conducted from Budiarto Airport, Curug (near Jakarta) as well as Trunojoyo Airport, Sumenep on the island of Madura. Flight Instructors at Merpati Pilot School are all current line pilots with Merpati Nusantara Airlines each with thousands of hours flying experience.

Accidents and incidents

Massive resignation

Following Merpati's financial troubles and inability to pay its employees salary or benefits for three consecutives months, 50 out of 178 pilots resigned.[22]

See also

References

  1. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 49.
  2. ":: Direktorat Jenderal Perhubungan Udara | Kementerian Perhubungan Republik Indonesia ::". Hubud.dephub.go.id. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  3. ": MMF International :". 110.139.63.237. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  4. Camelia Pasandaran (February 3, 2014). "Merpati Flights Grounded as Airline Struggles to Take Off Under Weight of Debt". The Jakarta Globe.
  5. http://ekonomi.metrotvnews.com/read/2014/07/24/270109/waduh-merpati-akan-ditutup. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/06/11/merpati-relies-ma60-be-‘bridge-archipelago’.html
  7. Archived 7 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Directory: World airlines." Flight International. 30 March-5 April 2004. 39 (Archive). "Jalan Angkasa Blok B-15, Kav 2-3, Jakarta, 10720, Indonesia."
  9. "Merpati Akan Terbang ke Sampit." Merpati Nusantara Airlines. 24 April 2007. Retrieved on 16 September 2010. "Penandatanganan MoU yang dilakukan di Kantor Pusat Merpati Jalan Angkasa Jakarta Pusat"
  10. Flight International. 6 May 1971. p. 636 (Archive). "Head Office: Djalan Patrice Lumumba, Kemajoran Airport, Djakarta, Indonesia."
  11. "Merpati". ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  12. "Kuwait Airways 9K-AHI (Airbus A300 - MSN 344) (Ex PK-MAY ) | Airfleets aviation". Airfleets.net. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  13. "Merpati Fleet of A310 (History) | Airfleets aviation". Airfleets.net. 1997-03-23. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  14. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  15. "PK-NDH Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  16. "PK-NDI Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  17. "Aviation Safety Network Flight 422". Aviation-safety.net. 1994-11-30. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  18. "ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 PK-NUK Molo Strait". Aviation-safety.net. 1995-01-10. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  19. Hradecky, Simon. "Crash: Merpati DHC6 aircraft impacted mountain." Aviation Herald, October 16, 2009. Retrieved: May 15, 2010.
  20. "Merpati Air Plane Passengers Unharmed In Emergency Landing". Bernama. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  21. "Retrieved 10 Junde 2013". Aviation-safety.net. 2013-06-10. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  22. "50 Merpati pilots resign over unpaid salaries". February 7, 2014.

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