GROUNDED
THE executive lounge on the 22nd floor of Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta had permanent “occupants” two weeks ago. For three consecutive days, five people occupied one side of the room: Hary Tanoesoedibjo and Hary Djaja represented PT Bhakti Investama; the other three were from the Suherman family, Sandra Ang, Gunawan Suherman, and Adam Aditya Suherman.
From the lounge, serious discussions on the fate of PT Adam SkyConnection, Adam Air airline’s owner, were held. Interspersed with several breaks, the sudden meeting among shareholders which started when the office opened continued to midnight. Adam Suherman, as CEO of Adam Air, presented the airline’s careening condition. To survive, Adam needs fresh injections of funds in the tens of billions of rupiah. However, Bhakti didn’t find that to be the solution.
The tough negotiations ended on Thursday, the fourth day of the meeting. In the business center of the five-star hotel, an agreement was signed. It included a general meeting of shareholders to be held by management that same day. Another point was that Bhakti would relinquish shares to be reacquired by the Suherman family worth Rp100 billion. “Initially we asked for Rp75 billion,” said Adam.
The Grand Hyatt meeting was the result of a sharpening internal conflict among shareholders. Bhakti, with 50 percent of Adam Air’s shares through PT Global Transport Services and PT Bright Star Perkasa, felt deceived by the Suherman family. According to Global’s representative in Adam Air, Gustiono Kustianto, Deputy CEO and Director of Finance, much funds disappeared. He detected abnormality in the company’s finances which continued to dwindle since November of last year.
Based on this irregularity, he asked for a special meeting. However, there was no response. He became increasingly shocked when entering 2008. The Financial Statement for 2007 showed healthy revenues of up to Rp2.1 trillion. Using rough calculations, Rp130 billion came from the balance in 2006, Rp157.5 billion from Bhakti’s injections upon its entrance in April of last year, and Rp1.8 trillion from ticket and cargo sales. However, in the middle of this month, only Rp45 billion is left.
Gustiono felt powerless as Director of Finance. Many transactions were made by the CEO. Flight safety levels are also not improving. Since they joined, various incidents frequently took place. The latest was a Boeing 737-400 plane’s skidding at Hang Nadim Airport, Batam. Plane maintenance, spare parts availability, and flight crew training are also disorganized. Gustiono therefore recommended shareholders to leave.
Officially, Bhakti conveyed the plan to leave to the head of the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Board. Hary Djaja as CEO of Bhakti stated firmly that he would withdraw all Global Transport’s shares in Adam Air. Should such action cause losses to public investors, Bhakti’s founders are prepared to give compensations.
Global Transport’s lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, added, management was not just un-transparent. Several irregularities also frequently happened. Hotman claimed he had evidence of his suspicions. One of the modus operandi was to mark up loans to Bank Rakyat Indonesia in the amount of Rp50 billion. Who the alleged perpetrator was the lawyer would not say. He contended that it was a matter for the police.
Adam rejected the various charges. According to the youngest of four siblings, Gustiono didn’t give the report until the beginning of February. The company’s finances were in deficit and debts were scattered all over. For example, unpaid plane rentals reached US$14 million. As a result, 12 of 22 planes are grounded. Insurance money was in arrears up to US$10 million. Other debts were Rp5 billion to Angkasa Pura for office, hangar, and parking rentals.
Adam claimed he couldn’t understand why he was said to be not transparent. According to him, Bhakti should know the company inside out because their people were part of management: Deputy CEO, Director of Finances, and Director for Communications. “Cash flow is under the jurisdiction of the Director of Finances,” reasoned Adam.
Counter-charges were launched by the Suherman family. Bhakti was considered to have made an about-face. When the company’s health was deteriorating, Bhakti chose to abandon Adam. The young man who was born in Cirebon 27 years ago accused the Tanoesoedibjo family as investors who were only after profits and didn’t have the commitment to develop the company.
The news that reached Adam’s family was that Bhakti was preoccupied with Eagle Air. On January 24, Bhakti provided US$1.83 billion for its new baby. An official at the Department of Transportation reported that the new airline would launch in the coming October. That was why Adam saw this as the real problem besetting Adam Air, nothing to do with error in management, operations, or flight safety.
Amid the internal war, the airline that was founded in 2003 by Agung Laksono—currently Speaker of the House of Representatives—and Sandra Ang, was once again hit hard. Effective Thursday last week, the government revoked its flight permit. The reason for the decision broke Adam’s argument. It was exactly due to factors such as safety that Adam Air’s operations were discontinued.
The decision made by the Directorate General for Air Transportation was a follow-up on a three-monthly audit on flight aspects of all airlines. There were eight transgressions in Adam Air found by the auditing team. Among them were: senior pilot not carrying out training and monitoring functions, pilots didn’t implement the emergency evacuation procedure in line with standards set for Boeing series 737, and the lack of plane repair technical competence.
According to Director-General for Air Transport, Budhi Mulyawan Suyitno, Adam Air’s flight business will truly be over if within three months it doesn’t make any improvements. By that time, the air operator certificate will be revoked. To continue operations, “They must start from the beginning,” said Budhi. This warning was actually issued by Minister of Transport, Jusman Syafi’i Djamal, immediately after the accident at Hang Nadim.
Today, due to the ban, Adam Air’s offices seem deathly quiet. Just check out the 10 counters in Sukarno-Hatta Airport, totally empty of people—a stark contrast to the other airlines. The daily sight of eye-catching orange attributes is no more. However, several passengers still show up. For example, Erna, 30, a Tangerang resident. She looked annoyed because she couldn’t go to Denpasar. Two days earlier she received confirmation that there were no changes.
Erna was not alone. Twenty-eight students from the Indonesian Muslim Student Movement were loyally waiting at a ticket window. They have been waiting there for two days for departure confirmation for Batam to attend a congress. According to Usep Urkon, a representative from Bandung, Adam Air would reimburse the value of the ticket. The offer was rejected. They demanded to be transferred to another airplane. Not only in Jakarta, similar cases are found in Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Makassar, and other cities.
It is uncertain how long the situation will drag on after the failed meeting at Grand Hyatt. Adam left the ball in the shareholders’ court. He hopes that Bhakti would hear and resume support to the company development. Unfortunately, a meeting of the board of directors that he proposed last week failed. Gustiono walked out of the meeting room. “Imagine, in a meeting of the board of directors there was a lawyer,” said Gustiono. And so, if after three full moons nothing has changed, Adam should be prepared to join other airlines that have collapsed before it.
Muchamad Nafi, Munawwaroh
Off the Runway Since 2006
PT Bouraq Airlines
PT Indonesia Airlines
PT Nurman Avia Indopura
PT Multimoda Transportindo Utama
PT Nusantara Air Charter
PT Star Air
PT Bali International Air Service
PT Seulawah NAD Air
PT Asia Avia Megatama
PT Bayu Indonesia Air
PT Airmark Indonesia
PT Air Paradise International
Adam Air Incidents
2006
February 11, 2006
A Boeing 737-300 plying the Jakarta-Makassar route gets lost and lands at Tambolaka Airport, East Nusa Tenggara.
2007
January 1, 2007
A Boeing 737-400 plying the Jakarta-Manado route via Surabaya plummets into Majene waters, West Sulawesi. The 96 passengers and six crew have never been found.
February 21, 2007
A Boeing 737-33A plying the Jakarta-Surabaya route skids off the runway at Juanda Airport, Surabaya. The plane’s fuselage was bent.
March 6, 2007
An Adam Air plane fails to take off from Juanda Airport because the front wheels are broken.
April 8, 2007
An Adam Air plane plying the Lampung-Jakarta route cancels its departure after flying for 10 minutes because its hydraulic system isn’t functioning.
June 9, 2007
An Adam Air plane plying the Surabaya-Jakarta route returns to the airport after 20 minutes due to air disruption in the cabin.
November 24, 2007
An Adam Air plane plying the Jakarta-Medan route has a flat tire.
2008
March 10, 2008
A Boeing 737-400 plane plying the Jakarta-Batam route skids off the runway at Hang Nadim Airport, Batam.
Source : Pelangi.org
