T

he State-Owned Enterprises Ministry has replaced the president director of PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Sardjono Jhony, citing his inability to improve the company’s performance.

“We had to replace him because he doesn’t have a good sense of the current crisis and is unable to save Merpati. We do not want the airline that we love to shut down,” the ministry’s deputy for logistics and infrastructure, Sumaryanto Widayatin, told The Jakarta Post.

Citing ministerial data, Sumaryanto said that the airline has suffered losses up to Rp 251 billion (US$27.3 million) since January.

“We can’t inject anymore money into the airline, if its management continues to remain the same,” he said.

He said that the ministry had appointed Merpati’s chief commissioner, Rudy Setyopurnomo, as the new president director.

The ministry’s decision to fire Sardjono has evoked strong protests from the airline’s pilots, who have threatened to strike on Monday.

Strike coordinator Capt. Eman Supriatman told the press on Sunday that the airline’s pilots, crew, and ground staff would refuse to work on both commercial and pioneer routes until the government cancelled its plan.

“The company has performed well under the current management led by Capt. Sardjono Jhony,” Eman said.

He said that the welfare of employees was better during Sardjono’s leadership. He also said that the airline could book up to Rp 6 billion worth of transactions per day, while prior to Sardjono, the company was struggling to book Rp 5 billion worth of transactions.

On top of that, Eman said that the ministry’s decision was influenced by Merpati’s refusal to purchase 40 Sukhoi Superjet 100s. The producer of the Russian airplane held two demonstration flights in Indonesia on Wednesday to lure potential buyers, one of them crashing onto Mt. Salak in Bogor, West Java. No survivors have been found.

Eman said that Merpati had needed a new aircraft, and was instructed to purchase Sukhois by State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, yet management had preferred to buy Boeing and Airbus planes.

Dahlan denied the accusations over the weeekend, saying that Garuda Indonesia and Merpati would not buy Sukhoi jets because they had enough aircraft.

Separately, Sardjono said that he had asked pilots not to strike due to their commitment to passengers. Merpati had to prove that it could operate normally.

Sardjono said that he took the decision without any complaint or disagreement.

“They should know that Merpati is in the process of restructuring itself and that process needs time. The company is going to become healthier in the next four months,” he said.

Sardjono added that the airline received a Rp 561 billion loan from the State Asset Management Company (PPA) on Dec. 30, 2011 to help it pay off its debt.

In addition, he said that during his tenure at Merpati from May 2010 to Dec. 29, 2011, the airline was able to operate without financial support from the government.

The airline’s debt to state oil and gas company PT Pertamina for fuel purchased between Aug. 26 to Oct. 16, 2011 amounted to Rp 8.2 billion.

The airline also owed Pertamina Rp 212 billion for fuel supplied during 2006 to 2007 and Rp 44 billion for the period between 2007 and Aug. 25, 2011, amounting to a total of 264.2 billion in debt. (nfo)