New photo emerging from the CRJ-1000NG acceptance ceremony for Garuda Indonesia. Unfortunately, information on the ceremony itself is scarce.
The aircraft, PK-GRA is reported to be delivered soon, as schedules for the CRJ-1000NG have already been reported loaded for sale for flights by end of this month
Garuda's 1st CRJ1000NG (to be registered PK-GRA) shown at Bombardier's Montreal Dorval Plant.
Bombardier revealed the first CRJ1000NG for Garuda to reporters and analysts on 19 June 2012 to reporters and financial analysts during a media preview of the upcoming Farnborough Airshow.
The aircraft is shown here without engines. Want to see it with the engines? Go to Farnborough!
Whilst the turnaround at the prime state owned carrier Garuda, is now beginning to finally produce profits, Merpati remains in limbo. I wonder how much more things can go wrong there...
The CEO's rant at the parliament's 6th commission last year of "Look at Air Asia. One should look and ask if any regulations have been violated. (If not, then) The regulations should be reviewed. There is no way for anyone to operate the A320 profitably on short haul!" seems to have been followed by Merpati planning to add A320s to its fleet middle of this year. Bizarre!
Then in October last year, state oil company Pertamina refused to supply fuel on credit to Merpati, citing fuel debts of $62.15 million. Fuel supply was restored when the state's Asset Management Company (PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset) guaranteed restructuring of the debt worth $63.39 million.
In February, they also signed an MOU with COMAC for 40 ARJ21-700 at the Singapore Air Show. If the deal goes ahead, this would be the biggest order for the type outside China. However, it appears that COMAC didn't want the signing to be well publicized outside China and Indonesia, asking for the journalist present not to publicize it. However, the signing made news allover Indonesia. It all sounds strange, but after all, Merpati is also the largest operator for the AVIC MA-60, and many still question the decision to go for that aircraft type.
Then, came the video for Merpati's upcoming 50th Anniversary, uploaded on 4th April 2012.
In short, I think the video meant:
"We screwed up in the past, so we now have to make it better. We're sorry, and change, is the only way for Merpati to survive. So, we've got comfortable MA-60s now, so what we have to do is to fill it with passengers with no excuses! So let's get to work." The video ends with a quote, "Doing the impossible!"
While this plan will bring Garuda in direct competition with Lion Air group's ATR operations under Wings Air, citing the words "to serve low-density routes in eastern Indonesia" means Garuda intends to attack Merpati's bread and butter market (whatever is left of it)!
So, as Merpati's 50th anniversary is coming up, the giant mythical eagle, the Garuda, plans to attack the pigeon and the pigeon (a.k.a. Merpati) still hasn't recovered from the ATR onslaught of Lion, which coincidentally was announced near Merpati's 45th anniversary, 5 years ago.
Is the pigeon able to defend itself from the eagle and the lion? Could it be better to simply stop feeding steroids to the pigeon and just cook it while it still has value? Or is it better to continue feeding it, only to be eaten alive by the eagle and the lion?
When Garuda finally selected the CRJ1000NG over the E190 in February, many were surprised. The initial reason for the selection was "reasons other than technical," and obviously this raised many eyebrows.
The E190 offered better cabin volume, better cabin height, and very good economics. Economics however has been at the center of the CRJ vs Ejets debate by proponents of both sides, with CRJ1000NG claiming better economics. But having known the Airbus vs Boeing debates, we know that the cheapest costs may not always be the best because cost is only one part of the equation, the other being revenue potential. So why would an airline so focused at improving the passenger experience select a cramped little aircraft with a smaller cabin volume and space per passenger, and smaller baggage hold volume per passenger when compared with the E190? Bear in mind that this aircraft is also to replace the ageing 737-500!
If my memory serves me right, at the recent IAFS Airlines Day seminar, Garuda admitted that the CRJ1000NG selection has raised concerns about comfort amongst its Frequent Flier airline dialogue group (consisting of a small group of the airline's most frequent flier customers). So why? Garuda pointed out that more point-to-point opportunities were very big reasons why, favourable delivery slots has been cited, but someone from Embraer who also attended the seminar quickly pointed out to me that there are only two other CRJ1000NG operators in the world (Iberia group's Air Nostrum, and Air France group's Brit Air), and the CRJ family customer base in Asia is much smaller than the Ejets, and that the selection can quickly become a very big mistake (the Embraer guy even said even waiting for the 737-600/-700 or A318/319 (due to delivery slots), or even waiting for the C-series might actually be better if Garuda was so adamant in not selecting the Ejets).
I left the seminar wondering why... perhaps this video is the real reason why...
Ridiculous? Well, of course, but this IS Indonesia, and if the real reason why they chose the CRJ1000NG is because one can push it back after engine start with pure muscle power, I would not be surprised. After all, the aircraft would be sent to places where Garuda might never have had any previous jet presence whatsoever.
If you cannot see the humour in this parody, well, sorry!
Since we never had the chance of seeing McDonRop BoHeed... Fanboys of Airbus and Boeing who keep fighting each other endlessly should be ashamed when they see:
Seriously, Airbus vs Boeing fights are so boring... anyone care to do a Bombardier vs Embraer one?
