Half of Merpati airlines employee resigns

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 09/01/2008 4:51 PM  |  National

More than 1,200 employees of state airline company PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines have filed resignation letters over the company's efficiency relocation from Jakarta to Makassar, South Sulawesi.

The state minister of state enterprise's sceretary, Said Didu, said he honored the resigning employees because they helped the company, Tempointeraktif.com reported Monday.

Said said the company planned to cut around 1,300 employees out of a total of 2,552 for efficiency. The company currently owns 25 airplanes and ideally should only employ around 1,000 to 1,250 employees people, he added.

The company asked for voluntary resignations from its employee and the government has prepared Rp 223 billion for severance pay, Said said.

The government's decision to move Merpati's main office from Jakarta was part of the efficiency effort.

Around 75 percent of the airlines customer came from the middle and eastern regions of the country.

The company recorded Rp 1.89 trillion (US$207.9 million)) revenue last year, but it has a total debt of Rp 2.2 billion to two other state companies and Rp 800 billion owing in employee payments. (dre)

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.