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GARUDA Indonesia President Director Glenny H. Kairupan has made a firm decision. Instead of adding three new aircraft, Garuda has chosen to postpone fleet expansion and focus its energy on repairing existing aircraft.
Glenny revealed that the company previously signed an MoU for an order for four aircraft. However, of the total plan, only one unit has received a down payment. The other three aircraft have been officially postponed.
“The MoU is for four aircraft, only one has received a down payment. We are postponing the remaining three because our priority is fleet repair,” Glenny said in a written statement in Jakarta, Friday (11/14), 2025.
Glenny said this decision confirms Garuda’s increasingly consistent direction of improvement since the government and BPI Danantara’s rescue scheme entered into force. Although Danantara has agreed to disburse capital of IDR23.67 trillion, we remain cautious.
Glenny, a pilot who graduated from the Curug LPPU, believes that Garuda’s rescue must begin with the operational sector, which has been a financial burden.
“If we don’t fix it, costs will continue to rise. We estimate that the full recovery process will take two years before Garuda returns to profitability. The decision to hold back this expansion is a strong signal that Garuda is prioritizing stability and efficiency before returning to higher levels,” he said.
Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia Deputy President Director Thomas Sugiarto Oentoro added that all expansion plans are currently being recalculated. The new position of Transformation Director, held by Neil Raymond Mills, has resulted in a more rigorous evaluation of the fleet and route network.
“They’re not being cancelled, but we’ll postpone some until the analysis is final,” Thomas said.
Likewise, Danantara Managing Director Febriany Eddy stated that there are four main focuses in Garuda Indonesia’s transformation. First, improving service. Second, business transformation with greater discipline in selecting flight routes.
“Cargo must also become significant. Today, the proportion of cargo revenue is low. That must be increased,” Febri affirmed.
Febri explained that the third transformation relates to operations, prioritizing safety and security in flights. Punctuality is also crucial in improving Garuda Indonesia’s operations.
“We have a lot of homework to do, including reliability, safety, and operational excellence. The fourth transformation concerns technological updates at Garuda Indonesia. Febri explained that the transformation of these four key sectors will take time,” he noted.
He concluded, explaining that achieving Garuda’s transformation will take time. So, today we’re returning to service first. Once that’s okay and the route is positive, then we’ll discuss other plans. That must all happen next year. [sources/photo special]
