Garuda Indonesia's extraordinary shareholders meeting on Wednesday appointed Irfan Setiaputra as the new president director, replacing Ari Askhara.
ational-flag carrier Garuda Indonesia’s new board members face a Herculean task going forward to not only score profits but also to regain public trust after a string of scandals that hit the airline last year.
The publicly listed company’s extraordinary shareholders meeting on Wednesday appointed Irfan Setiaputra as the new president director, replacing Ari Askhara. Ari was fired in December following the discovery of a smuggled Harley Davidson motorcycle and upmarket bicycles on board one of Garuda’s brand new airplanes.
Irfan previously served as chief executive officer and president director at a number of telecommunications companies, including Sigfox Indonesia in 2019 and PT Industri Telekomunikasi Indonesia from 2009 to 2012.
“I hope Pak Irfan Setiaputra can do his job well, follow good corporate governance principles and improve Garuda’s performance,” State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir said in a statement after the meeting.
Garuda’s stocks, traded on the local bourse with the code GIAA, nosedived more than 3 percent on Wednesday, far more than the slight decline of 0.08 percent on the main gauge, the Jakarta Composite Index.
Erick overhauled the airline’s management following the smuggling case that allegedly involved other high-ranking officials at the company last year. The airline was also under scrutiny over several sexual harassment allegations at the company and the long working hours of cabin crew members, spurring questions over Garuda’s good corporate governance implementation.
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