The Sins Of Garuda Indonesia According To Peter Gontha

Garuda Indonesia aircraft. (Photo: Doc. Garuda Indonesia)

JAKARTA - Former Commissioner of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk Peter F. Gontha spoke on his social media. He opened all the problems that occur in the body of Garuda. Starting from buying the wrong plane to the existence of a 'group' in power in the national airline.

Peter himself was appointed as Commissioner of Garuda representing the company's shareholder, PT Trans Airways. The corporation owned by entrepreneur Chairul Tanjung holds 28.27 percent of Garuda's shares. However, last August, he was dismissed from the position.

Before leaving Garuda Indonesia's board of commissioners, Peter admitted that he had long wanted to reveal the problems that occurred at Garuda Indonesia to the public. On May 16, 2021, Peter through a post on Instagram admitted that he could not bear to immediately reveal the problem.

Peter also said that Garuda in the last period of his life was like stage 4 cancer. However, the treatment is still like dealing with someone who has the flu. Therefore, according to him, it is appropriate that Finance Minister Sri Mulyani is reluctant to help Garuda again.

"I will open the depravity that occurred in the open, because all shareholders, especially public shareholders who have no voice, are entitled to complete information. Please be patient," he wrote, quoted Friday, October 29.

1. Garuda bought the wrong CRJ1000 plane

After leaving the position of commissioner of Garuda Indonesia, Peter slowly opened up the problems that occurred at the national airline. Most recently, Peter highlighted the purchase of the CRJ1000 aircraft.

Peter considered that Garuda management made the wrong purchase of the CRJ1000 aircraft. He also questioned who proposed to buy the plane.

"This is the wrong Garuda CRJ plane, there are 17 of them. Who told you to buy it? Who is the broker?," he wrote on his personal Instagram account @petergontha, quoted on Thursday, October 28.

According to Peter, the plane was unusable. As a result, Garuda had to bear the losses from the decision to buy the aircraft.

"Now unemployed and reversed. Losing millions?," he continued.

Previously, the Ministry of SOEs under the leadership of Erick Thohir decided to return 12 Bombardier CRJ-1000 aircraft and terminated the contract with Nordic Aviation Capital or NAC which was due in 2027.

In addition, Garuda Indonesia also submitted a proposal for early termination of the lease contract for six other Bombardier CRJ1000 aircraft to Export Development Canada (EDC). Where, Garuda is negotiating the early payment settlement contract for the financial lease of the six aircraft.

The negotiation process with NAC itself has been carried out several times. Even so, the NAC has not yet given an approval response. Shareholders consider that this is not a problem. In their review, the shareholders still decided to return 12 CRJ-1000 aircraft.

SOE Minister Erick Thohir said that within a year, Garuda lost up to 30 million US dollars or around Rp. 419.8 billion (exchange rate of Rp. 13,996) because it rented the Bombardier CRJ1000. In fact, Erick said that the rental price for 12 Bombardier CRJ1000 aircraft per year is only US$27 million or around Rp. 377.8 billion.

2. Airplane rental difference

The problem that was also revealed by Peter was the difference in aircraft rental fees. He questioned where the difference in money from the rental price of the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft leased by Garuda Indonesia went. According to Peter, the usual rental price for a Boeing 777-300ER is US$ 750 thousand per month. However, since the first plane lease letter was signed, the cost incurred by Garuda was US$1.4 million per month.

"This is a Boeing 777, the average rental price in the market is 750 thousand US dollars per month. Garuda starts from the first day paying double? 1.4 million US dollars per month. Where did the money go when it was signed? Just want to know?," wrote Peter on his personal Instagram account.

Perter also interacted through the comments column with Triawan Munaf, who is both a former Commissioner of Garuda. He asked permission to open up the problems that occurred in Garuda's body.

"Morning Mr. @triawanmunaf, Garuda is about to go bankrupt, so it's okay to open it up, right! Did I make it up, sir?" wrote Peter.

Triawan also invited Peter to continue his wish. According to him, Peter is the person who knows best about the problem.

"Mr. Peter, who was the first to experience it, Mr. Peter is the most worthy to testify," replied Triawan.

As is known, Garuda has a total of 142 aircraft, as many as 136 aircraft with lease status and 6 aircraft owned by the company. Consists of Boeing 777-300, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-8 Max, Airbus A330-200, Airbus A330-300, Airbus A330-900, CRJ1000 NextGen, and ATR 72-600.

However, during the pandemic it was reduced so that currently operated to support the company's operations there are around 53 aircraft.

Especially for the Boeing 777-300ER, Garuda Indonesia has 10 aircraft. The aircraft, which can accommodate a total of up to 314 passengers, is used for long-distance routes. This Boeing 777-300ER is claimed by Garuda to be able to go up to 930 kilometers per hour. It is noted that Garuda Indonesia leased two of its 777-300ER from ALAFCO, two from Altavair, and the remaining six from ICBC Leasing.

3. There is a group that is too powerful

In September, Peter revealed through social media one of the causes for the breakdown of order at Garuda Indonesia. According to him, this is because there are groups not from SOEs who are too powerful and continue to hold companies hostage for their own interests.

"Now with the plan to reduce planes, they are the victims themselves. They don't have jobs and will lose everything. That's when some people influence their colleagues," said Peter.

He also hopes that Garuda can continue to fly even though it has a much smaller fleet. He also invited all parties to witness the development.

"We will see which developments will continue and which will raise the white flag. Hopefully those who still have a heart will not join in," he said.