President Director Of Garuda Indonesia Allegedly Using Company Facilities For Family Vacations, Employee Union: Airline Situation Needs Attention 24 Hours A Day

Garuda Indonesia aircraft. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The Garuda Indonesia Employees Union (Sekarga) suspects that the President Director of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, Irfan Setiaputra, used company facilities to vacation in the United States and Europe. The allegation was also reported to the Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir in the form of a letter.

In the letter, it was explained that Irfan with his wife, children, son-in-law, and two grandchildren traveled while attending the International Air Airport Association (IATA) meeting which was held from 3 to 5 October 2021.

Initially, Irfan and his family used a Garuda Indonesia flight with flight number GA088, Jakarta-New York via Amsterdam on September 30, 2021. However, it was changed to Jakarta-New York via Incheon/Seoul for flights on the same day, with flight number GA878 business class .

Then, it was explained that Irfan and his family returned to the country with the Amsterdam-Jakarta flight route with flight number GA089 and using business class on October 16.

Chairman of the PT Garuda Indonesia Employee Union, Dwi Yulianta, also noted that the use of company facilities had been acknowledged by Irfan during the sharing session on October 25, 2021.

Responding to the recognition of the president director of Garuda Indonesia, the PT Garuda Indonesia Employee Union expressed its attitude that in the current situation of Garuda, it urgently needs the attention of the President Director for 24 hours. Therefore, the President Director must prioritize the company's financial condition.

"Secondly, we are very concerned, it turns out that apart from attending the invitation from October 3-5, the President Director admitted that the person concerned continued to vacation with his family and only returned to Jakarta on October 16, 2021," he said, quoted in the report, Wednesday, October 27.

Third, the Garuda Employees Union also received information about the cancellation fee for 4 economy tickets promo V Class Irfan family with the original route Jakarta-Amsterdam instead of being subject to a cancellation fee. And the ticket was changed to Jakarta-Incheon/Seoul, and upgraded 4 economy tickets to business class both on departure and return.

"We also received information regarding the issuance of the Garuda Indonesia Member Card, namely GA Miles Platinum VIP to 4 members of the President Director's family (children, daughter-in-law and grandchildren)," he said.

Previously, President Director of PT Garuda Indonesia, Irfan Setiaputra, said that Garuda Indonesia's main focus is to continue to take accelerated steps to restore performance. Mainly through a comprehensive restructuring program that is currently being completed.

"We have also intensified these efforts through various efforts, supporting steps to improve Garuda Indonesia's performance fundamentally, especially from the basis of flight operations," he said.

Irfan also admitted that he was optimistic that Garuda's performance would improve again. Moreover, with the positive signal of the national aviation industry in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic situation which is now under control. This includes the opening of Indonesia's leading tourism sectors, such as Bali and the Riau Islands, which have been open since October 14.

"This is an important momentum in the performance improvement steps that we are currently optimizing with all relevant stakeholders," he said.