Do we really need to have an aviation industry?

What a silly question.

Those who say we do not need an airplane manufacturer are really suffering from inlander-complex. That we are not worthy enough to have such a hi-tech industry while most of our people are poor farmers.

Thosec critics are inward looking people. Some scholars related this to the agriculture, inward looking Mataram in contrast to the outward, maritime Sriwijaya and Majapahit kingdoms.
While it is true that PT DI; formerly known as IPTN, Lapip, Lipnur; was mismanaged and unsuccessful in its sales and marketing, it does not necessarily mean that we just abandon this endeavour.

I think those who oppose our very own aircraft factory never really get out of their comfortable palaces and visit distant parts of the country. How do you expect one to travel to the hearts of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua?

Those who oppose it must think that we live in a continental country where you can just drive your car to every corner of the country. Watching too much Hollywood.

We are the world's largest archipelago with some 17,000 islands where land transport needs other mode of transport to reach the final destination. You need a ferry to cross the Sunda or Bali Straits. You must take one of PT Pelni's ships to reach Sulawesi or Irian Jaya. Or if you are in a hurry, take the airplanes.

While we already have a growing shipbuilder PT PAL, a strong aviation industry is surely a boost in our development and self-reliance.

I've never been to Irian Jaya or Sulawesi and only reached Banjarmasin. But I spent my childhood and teenager times in the middle of Riau jungle where my father worked for Caltex.
During vacation, we took the company's airplane heading for Java. In the airport, Pinang Kampai or Simpang Tiga, I saw people getting off and on small aircrafts belong to the Sabang Merauke Raya Air Charter (SMAC). It was in the late 1980s and early 1990s when no such thing as low cost carrier.

But the SMAC planes always full of passengers plying cities in Riau and other Sumatra provinces. If a friendly and more developed province like Riau still needs air routes despite the presence of road network, you can imagine what airplanes can do in Kalimantan and Irian Jaya.

This alone shows that we need a lot of airlines and airplanes to reach places still unreachable by land transport. Even when there is strong presence of land transport, the Bandung-Jakarta commuter air route still attract passengers.

Recently Lion Air announced the plan to buy 60 units of Boeing B-737-900, the latest series of the most popular commuter airplane. Can you imagine how much money can we save if the planes are made by PT DI? The provision of job opportunities?