March 26, 2007: Indonesia boasts of 48 commercial airlines, charter operators and air cargo companies, but the worrisome fact is that none of them comply with the mandatory safety regulations.

According to a news report, this has been revealed by an emergency audit conducted by the country’s ministry of transport following two deadly airline crashes in Indonesia since January 1. It may be recalled that air mishaps that shocked the world included the Garuda Indonesia crash of March 7 that killed 21 people, it added.

The report pointed out that Garuda Indonesia was one of 13 domestic airlines and cargo companies placed in the middle of a three-category system denoting best to worst, meaning they had met all but a few safety requirements. According to the grading system, the bottom category compromised seven airlines that had met minimal safety requirements but had not complied with several requirements. The bottom group included Adam Air, which had a jetliner crash on January 1, killing all 102 people aboard, the report added.

Significantly, not a single airline finished in the top category. This in fact meant that no airline complied with all mandatory safety regulations. A study on factors including effectiveness of the management teams, frequency of mishaps and compliance with routine audits fund that an accumulation of these conditions has caused aviation accidents and serious incidents. A simultaneous auditing of 28 small charter flight operators found that eight of them were placed in the bottom category for safety.

The government, meanwhile, plans to penalize all airline companies in the bottom category and give them three months to improve their safety practices or risk having their licenses suspended.