Porters waiting to help passengers carry their luggage in exchange for a tip have always been feature at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Until last Friday, that is. That’s when PT Angkasa Pura II, the state-owned company that manages Indonesia’s airports, announced a significant change to the way things are run at Soetta.
“Since September 1, 2017, we changed the services of porters and renamed them airport helper,” said Prasetyo Dewandono, the airport’s PR manager, as quoted by Tempo on Friday.
It’s more than simply a name change. Unlike porters, the airport helpers are paid according to Jakarta’s minimum wage guidelines, meaning their services are free to all passengers – no tipping required.
https://www.facebook.com/airport138/photos/a.1690586774511952.1073741829.1690386724531957/2004185843152042/?type=3
Terminal 3, the airport’s newest, had already been using the airport helper system since it opened. Prasetyo said that there were now 805 porters assigned to Terminals 1 and 2 and that they worked on a shift system so that their services would be available throughout the day.
Prasetyo said the response from passengers had been great, as many had not been clear about the costs of using porters. He said the change was meant to improve the airport’s overall quality of service, especially for international guests.
https://www.facebook.com/muhammad.awaluddin.127/posts/10213900886580150
The porters-turned-helpers also seem to like the new system. Whereas before porters were paid only in tips and had to pay off a certain daily deposit amount to the company that had hired them, they now earn the Jakarta minimum wage, which is currently Rp 3.35 million per month.
“It’s better now, we can work more calmly, without having to worry about paying off our daily deposit,” Uci Sanusi, one of the newly named airport helpers airport helper, told Tempo on Sunday.
