INDONESIA'S WORST AIRLINE - SUPER AIR JET 

Hey Josh, super nice review lol. Regarding your question about how an airline can pop up like this and have 60 planes so quickly…it’s mainly because it’s not really a new airline at all. What do I mean? Well, it’s part of Indonesia’s Lion Group which also owns Lion Air, Batik, Wings, and Malindo. Therefore it shares maintenance, ground handling, ground operations, etc with the main group and essentially only differs in the aircraft livery, in-flight experience and flight attendants. So it’s a new subsidiary within an old airline. This is also why it shares some of the groups super problems: delays, unmotivated staff, cleanliness issues etc.

Unfortunately you can not compare the Asian aviation market's to Europe as they both function on a complete different philosophy. In Europe, most major airports are unable to provide an airline with such a growth (of having 60 aircraft within 2 years) due to slot capacity, environmental restrictions and lack of staff. The geography of Asia & Europe is also completely different as Europe has a huge train network and facing competition with them on shorter distances, while in Asia this is limited or may take up to so many hours that it's simply not worth considering. Also Aviation is often the only way to find a way to get to your destination with Indonesia being a very good example as it consists out of hundreds of islands.

Always love seeing people reviewing these obscure airlines that nearly no one has heard of

I'm Dutch, born in Indonesia. When we travel through Indonesia to visit my families, we always travel with Citilink or AirAsia since they have always been way better than all the new airlines that have came the past few years. They're most of the times still even cheaper than the airline in this video for example.

Pro tips as Indonesian : always avoid to take Lion Group aviation lines (and all of their affiliates such as Batik, Lion Air, Wings, Malindo and Super Air Jet). Major incident, lack of customer experience, delay, aircraft issue, pilot issue, its a complete chaos. I prefer to choose Citilink, eventhough with reasonable higher price, but you will feel safe and have a decent flight compare to Lion Group. Unless the departing time is a deal breaker, then you may avoid this airlines group at all cost.

Will you ever tell us the story of what made you choose Colombo as your home?

Josh enjoyable review , Super Air Jet seemed a pretty miserable experience from start to finish . As an av geek I too would have liked the walk on the ramp I would have probably wondered off to obtain a few aircraft reg’s . Looking forward to your SQ flight .😃

If i remember, Super Air Jet is also part of Lion Air too… and unfortunately being a full LCC, you will get Lion Air treatment here. In fact as i was considering which airline to get onboard with for my trip from Palembang to Jakarta, then Denpasar, i never grab LCC unless they are well organized (Citilink is the best LCC afaik, thanks to Garuda). I will take Pelita Air for PLM to CGK, Garuda from CGK to DPS, and Batik Air (bussiness class, got a price cut from a travel fair) from DPS to CGK. The bad ones based their history + my experience are from Sriwijaya Air Group airlines (Both Sriwijaya Air and NAM Air), Lion Air and Super Air Jet (btoh are from Lion Group, but thank God their Batik Air is pretty good) Also fun fact, there is a few incidents where a few Super Air Jet A320s have issues with the air conditioning, it was on national news here a while ago XD Thats why i dont take it (worried about maintenance issue)

Your reviews are real. That is what your fans love. I would love for you to visit more obscure airports.

another thing you might find odd about this airline is that when Super Air Jet was launched last year, it was marketed as a "Millennial/Gen Z" airline, which honestly I don't understand what that means either (maybe that explains the bare bones services, they might think young people just want to pay for a cheap seat and that's it lol)

My wife and I are going the other way, Jakarta-Bali-Dili on our 14 flights 11 airlines 8 contries roundtrip from Oslo to Southe East Asia in January. Superjet was one of the options, and i think the cheapest, on the Jakarta-Bali leg. However i choose Batik Air from Jakarta. After al i have heard about Indonesian Airlines, I prefere to pay a littele bit extra. We also get to test another airport (HAL). On the Bali-Dili-leg we are flying Citylink (we use Jetstar Asia on the SIN-Jakarta leg and Scoot Bali-SIN) Thank you Josh for proofing I have chosen the right airline.

SUPER video Josh! 61 planes x 12 years of age = SUPER 732 years of aviation history. I hope your next flight really is... super.

Hey Josh, I really like your videos and your honesty. But I always wonder how it is like to live in Sri Lanka. I would love to see a video about that. Keep up the good work!

Just wondering, since you are in Indonesia, will you be trying out the COMAC ARJ21 operated by Transnusa (the only non-Chinese airline flying COMAC aircrafts) ?

I was on a scoot flight from Phuket to sg this morning TR659, attendant took an empty passenger seat for some reason and slept during landing procedures. And Cabin luggage was in excess, they ran out of room for carry ons. Ground crew went around looking to check baggage upon boarding. Total mess

Well, the founder / financier of the airline was appointed as Indonesia's ambassador to Malaysia. He is also the founder of Lion Air. Maybe that says something about the mushrooming and rapid ascend of the airline. Airlines that use age-old aircraft leased from elsewhere may be a good way of...uhmmm, well, I forgot the word. =))

Hi Josh! Thanks for frank and honest review. I’ve had flying this airline from Jakarta to Pontianak in West Kalimantan. I’ve had two checked luggage. The worst issue was one of them sent to Padang in West Sumatra😅

as Indonesian, i prefer not fly at all if a destination only flown by super air jet. I've heard so many bad experiences and it was on the national tv news.

We don't have the crystal ball to know, but because of that, long pants would've avoid a direct contact with that seat. I understand the comfort that shorts has, but thanks to Josh, ppl know how unprofessional and filthy this aircraft is. What a shame! Like always, great vid J! Take care!!!

What an awful experience. Thank you for taking one for the team. 😀

Super Air Jet just sounds like one of those airlines Mentour would be doing an air crash video about ☠️☠️☠️

Indonesian geography has so many islamds.. its huge country thats islands seperates.. the fast and convinient transportation its an airplanes / aeroplanes.. for instance from bali labuan bajo / komodo islands only 90 minutes whereaz take 2 -3 days by boat like ferry 😊

Josh, it can’t happen in Europe that an airline can grow so quickly because of airport slots. I would imagine they are really Indigo but using a loophole to move location and hide losses for the bankruptcy. Maybe the onboard supply companies don’t trust them enough to enter into contracts to supply food

Good morning from South Carolina, USA. OMG on your flight! I think that airlines grow quickly in Asia is due to population. If customers do not demand more from them they will be gone in a year. I am sure that some executive in the company knows who you are and how many followers you have. Hopefully they will take notice of the many things that need attention. If they are lacking on attention to the cabin....what about the maintenance on the engines? Safe flight home and hope to see your next video soon.

Did you know that this airline in some cases flight their aircraft without working air conditioning and pressurized system, so the flight become a flying sauna for more than 2 hours and fly below 12.000ft for the entire of the flight

I just flew them yesterday! Delayed from Jakarta to Medan 2 hours. Cabin staff indifferent and hid away entire flight. Dodgy as from Lion.

I flew on Super Air Jet from Bali to Jakarta last month. 4 hour delay, no updates from airline staff, and other than the pilots landing the aircraft like they were racing a rally car, was uneventful. But I probably won't fly them again haha

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Good luck on your trip home.

I like the video very much Josh keep up the good work

Hi Josh, imho in Europe there are no new companies as the slots on the airports are less and less available. For example Schiphol, Amsterdam has to decrease a lot coming years. So new companies have less chance of spots. Just a few days ago I read something about , I thought Air India but I might be wrong, that could not fly on Schiphol anymore after only one year.

You got that right man. Last july i had a more than 4 hours delay. I bought an 16.00 flight from Jkt to Bali. When i checked in, the flight was magically moved to 16.45 without prior notification. Finally boarded the plane at 19.50 although the status on board should be board on 19.25. Think multiple times if anyone want to use this crappy airline. I ended up losing money because i missed a meeting because of this airline. I posted all of the evidences in my social media

Because in Europe, there are many options to go from point A to B. Competition is broad. While in Indonesia, airplanes are convinient way to travel.

Josh I’ve been cracking up while watching this with the amount you have used the word ‘super’ 😂 Reminds me of those old Airline UK episodes, EasyJet, no so easy 😅

Imagine that an old Indigo video pops up showing the same seat stains and damage😅

Hey Josh!!! I love all of your videos you are amazing, however please don’t assume that the flight attendant was playing on her phone during the boarding process. Maybe the phone you saw her on was her inflight air device that most of us cabin crew have now days. Maybe she was communicating with the ground staff, catering, gate agents, dispatch etc. just an FYI…

Great review, they have plenty of work ahead of them.

Not only did you recount your experience but also did some background research. Great review

I almost think it was the Lion air owners way of trying to get the upper hand with Boeing after the Max disaster. There were sounds of the lion air owner trying to position a stronger deal with Boeing for aircraft pricing. Only speculation but it could explain the half hearted attempt to be an airline. I haven't flown with them and probably never will after seeing your post. Citilink is my preferred airline. Especially because I can fly from Halim which is closer to my home than Soekarno Hatta Airport. Thanks Josh for the heads up.

This video was super useful!

Josh, food for thoughts, you may have to bring sanitizer and wipes for emergency usage. I also suggest to bring sanitizer and wipes for emergency, even the loo I often sanitize before using.

Last year when flying to Asia from Europe was still kind of impacted by covid I flew Swiss First Class to Hong Kong, connected on Cathay Biz to Jakarta and flew from there to Bali with Super Air Jet. It was a steady decrease in quality, with a pretty steep drop between cathay&super air jet haha. Unfortunately it was the only flight that made sense wrt connecting times

I just came back from Indonesia today. In my trip i flew with Lion Air and it seems that Super Air Jet is simply another Lion Air just with attractive advertisements. My Lion Air planes were even more filthy than these planes and it felt that Lion Air never cleaned that plane in its 15 year life. Lion Air however seems to be more punctual as both of my flights were on time. Lion Air's seats do not recline and do not have seat pockets which is ok considering I only paid around 75 USD round-trip. What do you think? Which is worse - Lion Air or Super Air Jet?

Nice Review Josh, Have You tried the other two new airlines in Indonesia? Transnusa and Pelita Air?

Hi Josh! I am considering a flight to Japan soon from Europe, would you recommend me to book it via a Chinese airline? Since they're cheaper? If yes, which airline would give the best economy class flight experience in 2023? Keep up the good work!

I think the reason you don't see this thing in other places is two things. One is the market saturation, the other is cost. Cost is a huge factor. Remember almost everything is cheaper. Staff and crew get paid less. Maintenance also costs less. This allows these airlines to buy older planes and run these more cost effectively because of those lower costs. This all means you just need less money to start an airline. Additionally regarding costs is less regulations. This can be good and bad. While this can lead to less red tape and less cost, this can also lead to safety issues. See the history of airplane incidents in Indonesia for examples. Additionally, issues like MYairline are also symptoms of a less stringent regulatory environment.

Hi josh. Thanks for sharing ur experience with us x

Indonesia's *NEW* worst airline! Ironically, SAJ is also the part of the Indonesia's Lion Air Group, which owns three out of four airlines which are the worst airlines (including this one).

Super Air Jet basically "Budget version" of an already Budget Airline Lion Air (which is also parent company of Super Air Jet) So, it's "Budget of a Budget", no wonder the plane is "Super Dirty", the facilities are "Super Broken", their schedule are "Super Late", but the ticket price are Super Cheap.

Hey Josh, love your content. I work for an airline and I'm very picky about the service, especially the one I work for. Anyway, might I ask what kind of sunglasses you have? They are amazing. Thanks!

I mean, it's part of Lion Group. They even forgot to turn on the AC on a 2-hour flight last year.

Thanks..I agree with your review of SAJ...👍

Answering your question, there are way more regulatory barriers for entry in Europe when compared to most Asian markets

The biggest problem for me is if the plane is filthy and crew untrained, what sign does that give about safety and maintenance? Especially with an old plane that has been through many other airlines with their own maintenance standards. Proper reporting would be imperative, which I'm not sure I would trust this airline with!

Reminds me of the US discount airlines Frontier and Spirit. These companies are also lowering the standards of the other airlines who are trying to stay competitive. Just took a 6 hour flight (SAN-EWR) on United and only provided a can of soda and a cookie. Another 5 hour flight (EWR-PHX) on American with the same. Yet when I recently flew shorter flights overseas (DPS-SIN) on Scoot, we were given a meal and a snack. Everyone is trying to lower costs at the expense of customer service. I call it « The Walmart Society »

What’s funny is that this airline was recently added into infinite flight on the A320 😂. Great video! Love the A320! Not a fan of IAE engines though.

Calling that airline super is the airline equivalent of cheap sunglasses that do nothing to protect your eyes but have turbo written on them

Fyi, for certain domestic route in Indonesia. We don't have any option carrier. Most of route in Indonesia operated ny Lion Air Group (Lion Air, Batik Air and Super Air Jet). I thinl because no opt, we are just inhale exhale. Garuda Indonesia and Citilink doesn't have much opt to serve certain domestic route and preferable time

I work in the industry… it’s not a short answer, but to give the short… to a degree, it’s difficult to compare the Asian market with the European market, different transit patterns, populations etc. Europe is dominated by monopolies such as Ryanair and EasyJet, so there is little room for expansion of a start up. It is worth a note that there is some comparables, for example Whizz Air has had massive expansion within Europe and the Middle East over the last 12-24 months, this is a similar post pandemic effect to the likes of super jet.

I ever take this flight from Jakarta to Surabaya. One day before the departing date they change my flight to Lion Air and 6 hours before departing time they change again to Batik Air all with different time departure and terminal

That’s the best introduction to a video ever! The airline is a super piece of 💩 😂

Please fly with Lion Air and do a review of their first class lounge. You must stay at the FM7 in Jakarta. They have great spa offerings.

It just ticks all the boxes of bad management, bad communication, bad training, and overall lack of care towards their staff as well

Fun drinking 🥃 game! Take a shot whenever Josh says “Super.” Follow it up with the right episode of South Park and you and your mates will be under the table in no time…way faster than this trip from check-in to boarding, sitting on the tarmac, flight 🛫, landing, all the way to the final gate 🤔 It was super long for such a short flight ✈️

Hi Josh had you try PORTUGAL Porto please inform me about to make a mini tour and stay know Laso transports see you

Hey Josh, try the next low cost airline in Indonesia called Pelita Air.

I thought something has gone wrong with this airline. From the chaos check in until when you board the aircraft, it seems like when you onboard, there's nothing at all, no services no food no drink, no nothing lol. The crew did nothing and I completely agree with what you said. For me, this is kinda similar with Virgin Australia, but they're still a bit better because they still provide complimentary drinks like water, tea or coffee (considering that they are still a full-service airline, but more like budget) and the only thing is that you should purchase a snacks, which wasn't cheap imo

PK-SJL,i was been a part of this aircraft conversion From indigo Ex VT-IEM to superair jet

Lion air group is a main airlines in Indonesia right now as Garuda and citilink significantly reduce their fleet post pandemi. So in many occasion people do not have choice and have to use them to travel. Off cource Jakarta - Bali route is served by many airlines as it is high demand but to travel to other cities especially small cities, you dont have much choice.

Rusdi Kirana, Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia heads the Lion Air Group which includes Lion Air, Wings Air, Batik Air, Malindo Air, Thai Lion Air and Super Air Jet. The aim of Super Air Jet is to win over young people.

Great video Josh, one to avoid for me.. The 2 hr delay even when jet was only 10 min late arriving at the gate, was probably because of the slowness of the check in.. horrid.. safe travels Josh

Unfortunately Lion Group has monopoly for certain routes. Like Batam to Anambas Letung airport where only Wings is flying and with no check in luggage allowance. Flying from Jakarta to Anambas with Lion Group airlines transiting via Batam will get you 20kg check in luggage allowance. If you are to fly Citilink from Jakarta to Batam and have check in luggage, you'll have to pay Wings to check in your luggage from Batam to Anambas on top of the fare similar to the Citilink fare from Jakarta to Batam.

Looks like josh Super enjoyed using the word Super to describe the Super Services of Super Air Jet

For me flying Super Airjet in January 2022 (nothing was good other than USD 45 for DPS-CGK) is the second worst experience after flying Ryan Air (could not do physical check in and was forced to purchase 6x original airfare of EUR 30 for BCN-IBZ for my late online check in) in December prior to Covid-19 outbreak.

It's just a spin off from Lion Air, maybe a way for them to transfer their brand from one crash laden one to another new one (until they start falling out of the sky).

avoid : lion air, batik air, super air jet (all operated by the same company) to go : garuda, citylink, airasia

Hi josh... when will you come again to east timor??

Josh did you have your VPN turned off when trying to connect to the WiFi?

Hi Josh, have you ever reviewed Garuda Indonesia ? If you have, when was that

Great flight review.

Lion air delayed me from 10 am flight to 6pm in denpasar airport, so nothing can be worst than lion air !! These airlines are like bus companies that help create jobs with the lowest pay stewardess possible and only matter of time before this company collapse due to crashes caused by poor maintenance and lack of pilots training.

How come we haven’t received any notification on new reviews?

A great example of an ultra-low cost airline in Europe is Wizz-Air. They are based in Hungary and are doing a really good job. As of now they have over 165+ airplaines and are still expanding.

We took this airline this summer, going from Surabaya to Komodo. We had a super normal and Super uneventful flight... The flight was on time, Check-in was fine but I was really surprised with the crew. They announced themselves as the Supercrew and I have to admit, they were super good at hiding. Apart from boarding/deboarding, I never saw them once. So all in all, probably not the airline to go for in Indonesia...

It’s possible that the United States, Canada, European countries, and Australia might have stricter regulations before a new airline can be created. I also don’t know the exact reason. Maybe it may be easier for market entry in certain countries, so Airlines will do whatever is easiest for them. Who knows?

Josh you should try pelita air too

Interesting to know how they fill a pilot roster for a 60+ plane fleet with a large experienced pilot shortage….

Hi Josh! Please try to fly with Pelita Air. We need your honest review about that new comers airlines. Thankyou😊

It’s like supermarkets, Europe is a saturated well developed market with a few very strong players, so requires a large amount of investment to build anything sustainable to compete effectively. Compare that with Asia, where there are lots of underserved routes and many people aren’t used to flying so they don’t necessarily know what to expect. Also spare slot capacity at airports is a big driver of growth in Asia

Hi Josh, she might have been doing something on the phone related to her job mate when you boarded.

I think maybe you will experience the similar situation when flying Air Macau (subsidiary of Air China). Try out someday if you are interested.

Well this is LCC airline, what to expect? I think all LCC same like this. When you said worse, they have sooo many passangers thats why it looks chaos. As their price is cheaper so ppl mostly choosing them. And regarding the delay, Bali airport is so busy. Almost all airlines got deleyed FYI.

Thanks fantastic Josh

I was on those flight few months ago from Jakarta to Bali. My flight was scheduled to leave 12:45am, when I got in the airport, member of staff didint even know which gate the flight was supposed to leave, after we knew the gate, it was changing every minute. So we only departed at 4:45 didint receive any support or any information, one more thing , on scream it appeared the flight departed on time, on boarding, basically anyone could get in the plane, even if wasn’t their flights. This was a mess and corrupt airline. Super air jet is part of lion air group, from a Malaysia general, that why no one investigate.

Super air jet is a subsidiary of Lion Air, one of the biggest Indonesian LCC. Of course quality comes last, but pretty cheap fare

Oh... great. I have a flight with them tomorrow, as Lionair cancelled my original one from Jakarta to Medan and rescheduled me to a bit too late flight of their own. They had Super Air Jet flights as options when I went to reschedule, and I picked one of those. Hoping it won't be a disaster...

I flew once with Nam Air from Bali to Flores, it was a quite old Boeing 737-500 , this Super Jet looks way much better 😅 most important thing is to arrive safe to destination

Cahill...! You have been Super Taunting here.

2:03 Airbus A330 - 941NEO Garuda Indonesia 🇮🇩 PK - GHE 3 years later , "Blue Phoenix " painting's gone mid 2020

Thanks for another honest review Josh 👍 👏 😀

One of the challenges one can forgive, but all those issues combined...