The Story Of Two AirAsia Pilots Affected By COVID-19: From Sadness To Rarely Flying To Now Successfully Selling Fish With Billions Of Revenue

JAKARTA - The collapse of the aviation business due to the COVID-19 pandemic did not mean that two AirAsia airline pilots, Captain Pandu Silvanto and Captain Bhisma Bagaskara, gave up.

Both of them are determined not to give in to the situation so they ventured into business, which is a field that is very far from the profession they have been involved in so far.

The final decision was finally taken by this millennial pilot, precisely at the beginning of 2020, by being ready to risk the savings he collected while working as a pilot.

"At first, we tried the trading business, but after studying it finally chose to sell fish. It can be said that at that time we risked our last lives," said Pandu, quoted from Antara, Monday, August 16.

The fishery business was chosen because it was considered able to survive during the pandemic. In fact, public demand is increasing along with concern for improving health and body immunity.

These two friends began to establish the company Silvara Jaladri Indonesia which focuses on selling fresh fish and frozen fish in August 2020, with an activity center in Jakarta.

In order to ensure that technical matters go well, the two of them also cooperate with an alumni of the Fisheries College.

During their business trip, Pandu and Bhisma, who are currently 29 years old, buy fish at fishery production centers in a number of areas in the country such as the Rote Islands (NTT), Ambon (Maluku) and Banda Aceh (Aceh).

The fresh fish caught by fishermen are initially processed at the factory to be frozen or frozen directly on the ship. Then, both of them met the demands of a number of cities/regencies in Jambi, South Sumatra, East Java and Kalimantan provinces.

In August, at least Pandu and Bhisma have been running their business for about a year, and the trend is getting more positive because the amount of market demand is always higher than the supply received from suppliers.

In every month, both are able to sell 100-150 tons of fish with a turnover of Rp1-2 billion. Various types of fish are sold such as scad fish, snapper, bentong fish, gray tuna, batik tuna, pelagic fish.

According to Pandu, this fishing business cannot be said to be easy because it really depends on the weather and seasons. Types of marine fish and their number is very dependent on the season. In addition, this business is very vulnerable to losses because it prioritizes the quality of goods.

"Now the demand is not being met, but in October there can be a lot more supply, depending on the season," said Pandu.

However, the success story of this fishery business is not without twists. Both of them were deceived by their own business partners and suffered a loss of IDR 700 million.

"Calculate the study money," said Pandu.

As the message of a number of big entrepreneurs, that in running a business one must go through ups and downs so that it is more resistant and more adaptive to various business problems.

The story begins when they buy fish from a supplier or supplier company. Then when it was sent to Sumatra, namely to Jambi Province, the transport car was actually intercepted by another company. It turned out that this supplier had a responsibility with that party so that Pandu and Bhisma's fish were taken instead.

This case has been reported to the Police, and so far both of them are still hoping for good faith from the partner company to fulfill their obligations.

Even though they took a lot of losses, they didn't give up. Even carrying a bigger vision to venture out to try out the fishery export business.

Moreover, based on data from the Directorate General of Strengthening the Competitiveness of Marine and Fishery Products at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia's fishery exports have actually increased in the midst of the pandemic.

Currently, Indonesia is able to rank 8 for the main exporter of fishery products in the world in 2020, or up two places compared to 2019.

"Now we are studying to start exporting, the target is no later than the third quarter of 2022," said Pandu.

Then the question is what about the pilot profession, whether it will be abandoned or maintained.

For both, the issue of his profession as a pilot is not something that needs to be debated. According to him, business and the profession as a pilot can go hand in hand as long as they have an accountable management system.

For Pandu, piloting is not just a profession but has become a passion in his life. In the midst of this pandemic, he still gets the opportunity to fly a plane even if only once a month because Air Asia where he works has reduced its flight schedule.

Since August 2021 there has been almost no activity because AirAsia has closed operations until September 6, 2021, and has cut salaries or only paid 10 working days.

"The world of aviation is different. The challenge is only when in the air, it's different from businesses that bring 'homework'," said the pilot with 5,000 flight hours who used to crew the Air Bus 302 Commercial Plane.

This graduate of the Aviatour Flight School flight school in the Philippines, hopes that the aviation industry will soon rise and more young people will dare to do business to seize opportunities in the midst of a pandemic.