The Indonesian airline industry has a pretty terrible reputation internationally, one many would say is deserved due to the local aviation industry’s spotty safety record in the past. The constant stream of stories about massive delays and questionable practices by some of our low-budget airlines certainly doesn’t help (the best thing we can say about Lion Air is it’s still better than flying United).
The one major exception is state-carrier Garuda Airlines, which performed a remarkable turnaround since its troubled period in the late 1990s to mid-2000s to emerge as not just as the best airline in Indonesia, but one of the best in the world, ranking up numerous industry accolades.
Now Garuda can add another feather to its cap with its inclusion on travel website Tripadvisor’s first Travelers’ Choice Awards for Airlines, which were announced earlier this week. The awards, based on Tripadvisor user reviews, ranked the top 10 airlines in the world and Garuda managed to make the list at #10.
- Emirates, United Arab Emirates
- Singapore Airlines, Singapore
- Azul, Brazil
- JetBlue, United States
- Air New Zealand, New Zealand
- Korean Air, South Korea
- Japan Airlines, Japan
- Thai Smile, Thailand
- Alaska Airlines, United States
- Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia
Winners were based on airline reviews submitted on TripAdvisor between February 2016 to February 2017.
Last year, Garuda won the “World’s Best Airline Cabin Crew” award for the 3rd year in a row in the Skytrax World Airline Awards, and was also named the world’s “most loved airline” in a customer satisfaction survey conducted by Skytrax as well.
While its reputation among customers remains strong, the company has hit some turbulent times recently, with the Indonesian government recently announcing plans to replace the current CEO following a graft scandal and a significant drop in profits.
