TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The commercial aviation industry is one of the many businesses crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic as the number of passengers plummeted, leading to reductions of employees across several air carriers. This case had also affected state air carrier Garuda Indonesia.

Garuda Indonesia president director Irfan Setiaputra said that the air carrier is now forced to lay off several of its pilots. He maintained that the decision was made as an attempt to balance its position in the industry’s supply and demand.

Setiaputra said in Monday’s press release that the decision was produced after thorough deliberation, “This is a difficult situation that we must take.”

According to him, Garuda Indonesia has decided to terminate contract extensions with its pilots but assures that the former employees’ rights are met.

The difficult decision was taken as a necessary measure to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he mentioned that he remains positive that the industry will rebound and improve as the situation improves.

Prior to terminating a number of pilots, Garuda Indonesia previously let go of hundreds of its workers that according to several reports were laid off without receiving wage except from payments regarding the Eid allowance and health insurance.

EKO WAHYUDI