The Human Infrastructure Behind the Runway
In discussions about Indonesia’s aviation future, attention often gravitates toward concrete achievements—new terminals, extended runways, or the latest baggage systems. Yet behind every safe landing and efficient passenger flow lies an invisible infrastructure: people.
As the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) repeatedly stresses, aviation safety and efficiency depend less on hardware than on competent, continuously trained human resources. In this light, Indonesia’s Ministerial Regulation No. 81/2021 on Airport Business Operations represents a milestone. For the first time, it formally obliges operators to ensure the competence and continuous development of their personnel.
However, translating the spirit of PM 81/2021 into practice has proven challenging. Despite regulatory clarity, the country’s airport ecosystem still struggles with uneven skills, fragmented training standards, and limited institutional synergy. These gaps risk undermining Indonesia’s ambition to become a Southeast Asian aviation hub and to realize its “Golden Indonesia 2045” vision.
A Regulation Ahead of Its Ecosystem
PM 81/2021 is both progressive and prescriptive. It aligns Indonesia’s airport governance with global frameworks—particularly ICAO Annex 14, 17, 19, and ACI–IATA competency standards. Yet a regulation is only as effective as the system that supports it.
The Airport Human Capital Framework study, developed to operationalize PM 81/2021, reveals a persistent mismatch between required competence and actual competence. About certain percent of airport general managers lack adequate business and policy literacy—skills essential for balancing safety, economics, and environmental sustainability. Meanwhile, challenging of ground-handling personnel remain uncertified under IATA AHM 810 or Dangerous Goods Regulations.
Regulators face similar shortcomings. Many inspectors have yet to undergo ICAO TRAINAIR digital audit training, leaving oversight reactive rather than risk-based. The result is a paradoxical ecosystem: advanced rules, but outdated human capabilities.
The Limits of Compliance Culture
Indonesia’s aviation sector still bears the legacy of a compliance mentality—doing what regulations require without necessarily mastering the competencies those regulations imply. Certificates are obtained, checklists completed, and audits passed, yet the deeper culture of learning and accountability remains shallow.
In this sense, PM 81/2021 has outpaced the readiness of its implementers. The regulation envisions a future where every airport professional—from airside engineers to policy analysts—operates under harmonized national competency standards. But the supporting institutions—training centres, certification bodies, and data systems—have not caught up.
Without systemic reform, compliance will remain transactional rather than transformative.
Human Capital as National Infrastructure
Indonesia traditionally defines infrastructure as physical assets. It is time to expand that definition. Human capital—especially in critical sectors like aviation—must be treated as strategic infrastructure, no less vital than runways or navigation systems.
In ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP), human resources are considered a “Critical Element.” A country with strong airports but weak human competence still fails the test of global readiness.
Therefore, PM 81/2021 should be seen not merely as a regulatory instrument but as the cornerstone of a National Airport Human Capital Policy—a policy that connects government, industry, and academia in a single ecosystem of continuous learning.
From Compliance to Competence
Transitioning toward a competence-based system demands a profound policy shift. Training and certification must be understood as investment, not burden. Each learning hour contributes to long-term productivity, safety, and sustainability.
According to the Framework, the three most significant competency gaps are digitalization, environmental sustainability (ESG skills), and airport economic literacy. These gaps define the new frontiers of competitiveness.
For instance, airports without certified Environmental Officers (ISO 14001) face mounting risks of non-compliance with global green-aviation standards. Cargo operators unfamiliar with e-Air Waybill procedures lose efficiency and international credibility. Meanwhile, managers without ESG awareness cannot access emerging green-investment funds.
Thus, strengthening human competence is not merely a technical need but a policy imperative for economic resilience.
The Five-Phase Roadmap
The Framework proposes National Roadmap that translates PM 81/2021 into actionable phases:
- National Standardization and Mapping: The first stage establishes a unified National Competency Framework aligned with PM 81/2021 and national job standards (SKKNI). This process creates a common competency language across operators, regulators, and training institutions.
- Education–Industry Integration: Indonesia’s aviation academies and polytechnics must adopt a dual-system education model, integrating classroom learning with industry apprenticeships. Graduates should be immediately job-ready and eligible for international certification.
- Professionalization and Cross-Certification: A national certification framework for airport professions—covering General Managers, AVSEC, Ground Handling, and Safety Managers—must be formalized. A Leadership Development Program should prepare at least 300 future managers and regulators in ESG and airport economics.
- Digitalization and Green Operation Mandate: A National Digital Aviation Academy should integrate all training and audit data into an AI-driven learning-management system. Competence tracking will become real-time, transparent, and performance-based.
- Consolidation and Internationalization: By 2035, Indonesia aims to become the ASEAN Centre for Airport Human Capital and Sustainability, producing 10,000 certified professionals and 15 “Green Airport Ready” facilities.
This roadmap, if implemented, can turn PM 81/2021 from a compliance requirement into a transformative national policy.
The Triple-Helix Imperative
Aviation human-capital reform cannot rest on government shoulders alone. It requires a triple-helix collaboration among government, industry, and academia.
- The Ministry of Transportation must act as the policy architect and quality regulator.
- The National Professional Certification Agency (BNSP) and the Aviation Sector LSP must guarantee international equivalence of credentials.
- Airport operators—Angkasa Pura Indonesia—should serve as living laboratories, hosting accredited Airport Learning Centres open to tenants and service providers.
- Universities and polytechnics must update curricula toward ESG, digitalization, and analytics.
Only through such synergy can Indonesia close the competence gap and sustain a pipeline of skilled, ethical, and adaptive aviation professionals.
Data-Driven Governance
Policy efficiency begins with data. Indonesia urgently needs an integrated Aviation Human Capital Cloud—a digital platform that records every individual’s training, certification, and competency status nationwide.
Such a system would allow regulators to monitor workforce readiness, identify gaps, and design evidence-based interventions. It would also improve transparency, enabling public accountability for training budgets and safety outcomes.
Moreover, a data-driven policy framework could underpin incentive mechanisms—for instance, tax deductions for operators who certify over 70 percent of their employees through national schemes.
Sustainability as Skill
In the post-pandemic recovery, green aviation is no longer optional. Global financial institutions increasingly condition investment on environmental performance. Yet only 15 percent of Indonesian airports have dedicated ESG officers.
To attract green funding and meet ICAO Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme (CORSIA) standards, Indonesia must cultivate green skills—ranging from carbon-inventory analysis to waste-energy logistics. The proposed Green Airport Academy can serve as both training and certification hub for this emerging expertise.
Sustainability, therefore, is not a slogan; it is a competency domain that defines the future employability of aviation workers.
Equity and Protection in Competence Building
Human-capital reform must also address equity. Many front-line workers—ramp agents, security screeners, and cleaning staff—are employed through outsourcing schemes with limited access to certified training. When accidents occur, they bear disproportionate blame for systemic failures.
A public-policy response is needed: the state should guarantee baseline training and certification rights for all aviation workers, regardless of employment status. A Public Service Obligation (PSO) scheme for safety, security, and customer-service training could ensure universal competence coverage.
Equal competence means collective safety.
Institutionalizing the Learning Culture
Regulation alone cannot build competence; culture must sustain it. Indonesia needs a National Aviation Human Capital Council to institutionalize coordination among ministries, regulators, operators, and academia.
This council would bridge macro-level policymaking and micro-level implementation, ensuring that training standards evolve with technological and environmental trends. Media engagement and public recognition of outstanding airport professionals could further cultivate pride and motivation within the sector.
A nationwide learning culture—where continuous education is a professional norm—will define Indonesia’s credibility in global aviation.
Challenges of Effectiveness
Ultimately, the effectiveness of PM 81/2021 remains conditional. The regulation’s ambition exceeds the current institutional and fiscal capacity to deliver. Implementation faces three interlinked challenges:
- Fragmented Governance. Multiple agencies oversee different aspects of training, licensing, and oversight without a unified command structure.
- Funding Constraints. Human-capital development competes with infrastructure projects for budget priority, often losing the contest.
- Regulatory Literacy. Many mid-level managers and inspectors are unfamiliar with PM 81’s integrated competency model, leading to inconsistent application.
Addressing these barriers requires political will. Human-capital policy must move from ministerial decree to national agenda, embedded in the National Transport Master Plan and supported by multi-year financing through the Aviation Green Fund and PPP schemes.
Beyond Regulation: Toward a National Movement
PM 81/2021 can succeed only if it evolves from policy to movement—from paper compliance to shared conviction. This means transforming how the aviation community perceives training: not as a cost centre but as the heart of national competitiveness.
Indonesia’s success stories—such as the emerging Digital Aviation Academy Pilot Project and collaborative programs with ACI Asia-Pacific—prove that reform is possible when leadership, data, and purpose align. The next step is scale.
The Strategic Dividend
Investing in people yields the highest return. Over the next two decades, about 40 percent of Indonesia’s technical aviation workforce will retire. Without a structured regeneration plan, valuable tacit knowledge will vanish.
By embedding competence within policy—through PM 81/2021 and its derivatives—Indonesia can safeguard this intellectual capital while positioning itself as a regional training hub. The dividend is strategic: safer skies, greener airports, and more competitive industries.
Conclusion: The Minds and Hearts That Lift a Nation
Airports are more than terminals; they are national mirrors. They reflect how a country organizes safety, welcomes the world, and respects its workers. Indonesia’s aviation transformation will not be measured by the height of control towers but by the depth of competence among those who run them.
PM 81/2021 offers a solid foundation, yet its effectiveness depends on our collective ability to treat human capital as the runway of national progress. The future of Indonesia’s aviation does not lie only in concrete and steel, but in the minds and hearts of the people who keep the skies safe.
References:
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). (2018). Global Aviation Training Framework. Montreal: ICAO.
ICAO. (2020). Manual on Human Performance (Doc 10151). Montreal: ICAO.
Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia. (2021). Ministerial Regulation No. 81/2021 on Airport Business Operations. Jakarta: MoT.
International Air Transport Association (IATA). (2023). Dangerous Goods Regulations (64th Edition). Montreal: IATA.
Airports Council International (ACI). (2022). Airport Human Resources Policy Handbook. Montreal: ACI.
World Economic Forum. (2023). Future of Jobs Report 2023. Geneva: WEF.
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). (2022). CORSIA Implementation Support. Montreal: ICAO.
ACI Asia-Pacific. (2023). Sustainable Airport Development in the Asia-Pacific Region. Hong Kong: ACI AP.
