“Human capital transformation is how we make our employees happy so that they can deliver best service to customers,” said Bali-born Garuda president director I Gusti Ngurah Ashkara “Ari” Danadiputra after his appointment.
Newly appointed directors of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia have vowed to boost employee morale through a human capital transformation programme.
The previous board was abruptly sacked during a shareholders’ meeting on September 12.
“Human capital transformation is how we make our employees happy so that they can deliver best service to customers,” said Bali-born Garuda president director I Gusti Ngurah Ashkara “Ari” Danadiputra after his appointment.
He said the employee programme, along with revenue enhancement and redefining cost structure, were three areas the airline’s management would concentrate on.
Ari, 47, the former president director of the state-owned port operator Pelindo III, replaced Pahala N. Mansury, who had held the position since April 2017.
Newly appointed human capital director, Heri Akhyar, said Garuda needed to boost the morale of its employees. "Usually, when a company is in a state of loss, employees’ motivation drops. We have to try and bring that motivation back,” he told the Jakarta Post.
Ari wants to open new profitable routes and close inefficient routes.
Earlier this month, Garuda Indonesia said it would halt all non-stop flights serving its Jakarta-London route on October 28, although the London-Heathrow-Amsterdam-Jakarta route would continue to operate six times a week.
The Jakarta-London-Jakarta non-stop service opened in October 2017.
Garuda posted an operating profit of US$1.9 billion in the six months ended in June 2018, up 5.9% from the same period last year, aided by more public holidays during the period than in previous years, and in particular the Islamic holiday of Idul Fitri.
The falling Indonesian rupiah and a jump in global oil prices translated into a 12% increase in fuel costs, but Garuda was able to contain the rise in overall costs at 0.3%. This meant it ended the first half of this year with a net loss of US$114 million, an improvement from the US$283.8 million net loss in the same period last year.