TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Public Relations Companies Association (APPRI) gave his response to the legal row between flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia and one of its customers - who is a Youtube content creator, Rius Vernandes, which grabbed public attention this past week.

APPRI Chairman Jojo S.Nugroho regretted that Garuda ended up filing a police report against the internet persona, saying that it could have been handled more elegantly in a non-legal way.

“This situation is actually really regrettable. The netizen’s actions could have been resolved in a family manner,” said Jojo to Tempo on Thursday, July 18.

He said that the reaction from Garuda’s part was too susceptive and could possibly damage the carrier’s image and decay the public’s sympathy. The act could potentially be viewed as a sign of arrogance by Indonesia’s largest airline.

“Establishing a reputation needs years. But it can be easily damaged in matters of seconds in this day and age,” Jojo explained.

He also deeply questioned the carrier’s crisis mitigation procedure upon the initial controversy where Rius Vernandes uploaded a picture of a piece of paper with a handwritten menu to his Instagram account in a business-class flight aboard Garuda.

“Garuda had gone through numerous crises in the past such as planes skidding on the runway, air crash, and high-tempered pilots. All of those were handled admirably by Garuda Indonesia,” Jojo said.

EKO WAHYUDI