Indra Setiawan named new Garuda chief
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government installed Indra Setiawan as the new boss of Garuda Indonesia on Monday, ending weeks of speculation that Samudera Sukardi, elder brother of State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, would lead the flag carrier.
The government also named Hotasi Nababan, president of GE Lokomotif Indonesia, as the new president of state-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines.
Laksamana said in the inauguration ceremony that Indra was the best choice.
He said that he had not selected Samudera, despite his fine qualities, in order to avoid accusations of a conflict of interest.
"... I had to give a good example, and avoid a conflict of interest in this appointment. The decision was tough, as Samudera is also capable of filling the post," he said.
Samudera had been widely identified by the media as the new president of Garuda. He told reporters over the weekend that his younger brother (Laksamana) had informed him in the middle of last week that he had been named as the new Garuda chief, but was later told by Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar that his inauguration had to be postponed because the minister's appointment letter had 'gone missing'.
Indra, who has been serving in Garuda for 25 years, and since 1997 had been acting as commercial adviser to the airline, is seen as a neutral person for the Garuda top post because, unlike Samudera, who is a member of Vice President Hamzah Haz's United Development Party (PPP), the party that proposed him for the post, he does not represent a political party.
Sources said that top executives of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) had strongly opposed Samudera mainly because of his status as a PPP member.
"I was informed by the ministry just this morning that I would be installed as the new leader of Garuda," Indra told reporters following the ceremony.
Indra succeeded Abdul Gani, who tendered his resignation in January.
Both Indra and Hotasi will have a tough job helping the airlines survive the current turbulent skies.
After completing a rescheduling deal with foreign creditors last year, lauded by an international journal as the best corporate finance deal in 2001, Garuda, with its fleet of 43 aircraft, is now facing an uphill struggle in competing with regional airlines as well as with newcomers at home.
Meanwhile, Hotasi will have to prove his skill in helping to restructure Merpati's huge debt load and survive the tough competition in the existing domestic market.
After the government deregulated the airline industry, the domestic skies have become crowded, with 16 airlines now having scheduled flights. On the other hand, air passengers dropped from 17 million in 1997 to 8 million last year.
Hotasi is not a newcomer to the airline industry, as in 1993 through 1995 he worked with Garuda, filling several strategic posts such as vice chairman of its restructuring team.