Our home in the air?

What is it that passengers want from an airline? It is simple. Passengers want to be flown to their destination in a timely and safe manner. This is the basic fundamental task of an airline and if even this bare minimum cannot be achieved then one is forced to ask the question as to whether the airline is performing any worthwhile service whatsoever.

The decrepit state of the fleet has given rise to sincere concerns as to passenger safety and the airline's recurrent problems have significantly diminished its good will and competitiveness. The way it is run now, Biman is far from commercially viable and had it been subject to market forces would have shuttered years ago.

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Let us look at the simple facts. To ply six domestic and twenty-six international routes, Biman operates a paltry fleet of five 20-30 year old DC-10s, four Airbuses, and four F-28s. Most of them being in a poor condition, maintenance requires immense amounts of time and expense, and keeping all planes in the air at one time is a far cry. It should be noted that the DC-10s, for one, are totally obsolete and that the out-dated Biman fleet guzzles fuel at more than twice the rate of newer aircraft.

The solution should be simple. Biman requires new aircraft. However, the aircraft purchasing process is riddled with corruption and cronyism, and until this corruption is rooted out and there exists an open and transparent procedure for aircraft purchase which ensures that only the most economic aircraft best suited to its needs is purchased by Biman, it will continue to be a national disgrace.