Flying Without Wings, Almost

During the recent years, we've seen the ups and downs of the country's huge aviation industry. Apart from "traditional" airlines like Garuda, many airlines have sprouted up bearing the title "no-frills airline" or "low cost carrier (LCC)". Many thought that the then-fledgling LCCs, pioneered here by Lion Air, will simply go out of business in a matter of months, or years if you want to be optimistic.

Yet, as we can see now, those LCCs are here to stay. Sure, a number of airlines bit the dust, or more accurately, the tarmac; but it's simply "survival of the fittest" stuff. Honestly, they have given more people the opportunity to invade what used to belong only to the birds and supported the development of the country by enhancing air transportation.

Anyway, I had my very first experience flying on such airline last Saturday. Additionally, it was also my first time to fly from Soekarno-Hatta Airport's Terminal 1: apparently if there's a Terminal 2, there has to be Terminal 1. But let's save that for another time. It's nice to have a reserve topic to survive a writer's block. And I'm calling myself a writer, ha!

I flew to Balikpapan on the famed Indonesia AirAsia. Obviously, it was no SQ; heck, it wasn't even Garuda. The most striking thing is probably that passengers weren't assigned to seat numbers. When we board the airplane, we had to struggle, jostle, elbow, punch, kick, and bite people to get the seat we want: not exactly what I call convenient because I was flying in a group of fourteen people. But, if you can get past my exaggerated statement, it's not so big a problem if you're travelling alone or in a tiny group.

As I expected, we didn't get any food. They don't serve food, they sell them. No biggie actually, but it's still something to write about. Then I remembered when I was flying on Air Canada, which also sells food on-board for short flights. A fellow passenger said that it's no longer an airline, it's a flying 7-Eleven. Well, that pretty much describes AirAsia. You board the plane, fly, get out of the freaking plane, and that's it. No movie, no music, nada. They strip every traditional luxury that we've taken for granted for so long. I guess they'll take the wings off if they can. And the plane is not exactly squeaky clean, although it's not dirty either. After all, you want to get there from here and AirAsia does just that.

So, overall I'll say that it's less nightmare-ish than what people say. Then again, I might even say that it's quite good for an LCC. We didn't get delayed for hours and stranded at the airport, like I initially feared. If you have fears of flying on an LCC, just stop thinking about SQ or Cathay, and you'll survive.