New management at Merpati<\/p>\n
On Friday, Dr. Budiarto Subroto was inaugurated as chief
\ndirector of the government-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines
\n(MNA), replacing Ridwan Fataruddin. Budiarto's inauguration puts
\nan end to the controversy which has drawn many reactions from the
\npublic, including from people who know little about the
\ncomplexities of managing this domestic airline which for some
\ntime has been beset with problems.<\/p>\n
The matter has acquired far-reaching ramifications since the
\nexplanation given to the public by the former management appeared
\nto focus only on the negotiations over the leasing of 16 CN-235
\naircraft from PT Artasaka Nusphala, which failed, it was said,
\nbecause "the price asked was too high".<\/p>\n
President Soeharto, when asked about the matter by reporters,
\nreplied with a single sentence which revealed the gist of the
\nproblem: If Indonesians are unwilling to use the products of
\ntheir own technology, how can they claim to support the
\ndevelopment of our national aircraft industry as a central part
\nof our efforts to promote science and technology as well as our
\nnational industry?<\/p>\n
As a state-owned company, MNA is expected to position itself
\nas a component of the government apparatus. For this reason MNA
\nshould follow the grand strategy which has been delineated by the
\ngovernment as its shareholder. MNA is not an ordinary merchant of
\nflight services which follows only the norms of efficiency and
\nprofitability. MNA is a an arm of the government.<\/p>\n
-- Republika, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-management-at-merpati-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }