TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned Airline Garuda Indonesia issued an official apology regarding the incident where one of its pilots was caught on video stating racist remarks during a conversation with Silangit Airport’s customs officer in North Sumatera.

Garuda Indonesia spokesperson Ikhsan Rosan said that the company had been in communications with the Customs Office on what the company calls a case of ‘misunderstanding’.

“We deeply regret the pilot’s attitude and statement, which are against the company’s values,” said Ikhsan today. “Garuda Indonesia truly appreciates the cooperation between airport authorities and policyholders in order to improve passengers’ convenience.”

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Previously, a two-minute video showed a conversation taking place between a Garuda Indonesia pilot with a customs officer which was recorded inside the airplane’s cabin. The video was uploaded to Twitter by an account under the name @sugi_0706.

The pilot, according to the video, adamantly persuaded the customs officer to speed up the customs process and mentioned racist remarks in the middle of his conversation.

Ikhsan also explained that the Garuda Indonesia has conducted an internal investigation into the incident and that they have imposed an administrative sanction on the pilot.

M. ROSSENO AJI