Rejecting The Indonesian Pelita-Garuda Merger, DPR: Later Damaged To Amburadul Working Culture

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VI of the House of Representatives from the PDI-Perjuangan faction, Mufti Anam, admitted that he strongly disagreed with the planned merger or merger of PT Pelita Air Service with PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.

Mufti Anam conveyed his disapproval at the Hearing Meeting between Commission VI of the DPR and Garuda Indonesia, InJourney Airports, and IAS, Monday, September 22.

Based on his personal experience, Mufti assessed that Pelita Air's services were very good. Starting from the timeliness, cleanliness and food provided on the plane.

"About Pelita Air who wants to be combined with Garuda, I really don't agree with that. We are honest when we are pressed, when I no longer believe in Garuda, yesterday I took Pelita Air, yes, on time, it turned out, and also good, clean, service okay, food okay," he said.

Therefore, Mufti requested that the plan to merge Pelita and Garuda Indonesia be stopped. This is because he does not want Pelita to contract Garuda Indonesia's work culture.

"I don't want Garuda to hijack Pelita Air, which is already a good airline for our pride, then eventually it was damaged because of the work culture virus at Garuda Indonesia which has collapsed," he said.

Mufti said Pelita Air is currently no longer a burden on the financial performance of its parent company. Meanwhile, Pelita Air is a subsidiary of PT Pertamina (Persero).

"Because until today I was happy when after I went up and I read the financial portfolio, it turned out that it was no longer a burden on Pertamina's finances," he said.

"Well, then we don't want to see how Pelita Air, which was formed at that time, was repaired to become an alternative for our airline, then it became not good because of Garuda," he continued.

Senada, Anggota Komisi VI DPR Fraksi Partai Gerindra Kawendra Lukistian mengaku meskipun dirinya mendukung arah kebijakan Presiden Prabowo Subianto terkait merger ini, tetapi dia meminta agar rekam jejak Pelita yang sudah bagus ini tidak tergerus setelah merger.

“Kalaupun nantinya Pelita Air masuk ke Garuda, tolong berikan keyakinan kami akan terpengaruh dengan budaya yang kurang oke selama ini, bahwa Garuda berevaluasi jadi lebih baik,” ucap Kawendra.

Similarly, Member of Commission VI of the House of Representatives from the Gerindra Party faction, Kawendra Lukistian, admitted that although he supports President Prabowo Subianto's policy direction regarding this merger, he requested that Pelita's good track record not be eroded after the merger.

"Even if later Pelita Air enters Garuda, please give us confidence that we will be influenced by a culture that is not okay so far, that Garuda evaluates for the better," said Kawendra.