Beginnings (1949–60s)
The predecessor to Garuda Indonesia was a KLM subsidiary, KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf (KLM Interinsular Service), which was nationalized in December 1949.[11]
In its current institutional form, Garuda Indonesia had its beginnings in the Indonesian war of independence against the Dutch in the late 1940s, when Garuda flew special transports with a Douglas DC-3. The first aircraft was a DC-3 known as Seulawah (Acehnese: "Gold Mountain", or from Arabic Shalawah, means praise/worship) and was purchased for 120,000 Malayan dollars, which was provided by the people of Aceh (notably local merchants).[12] The first commercial flight from Calcutta to Yangon (then, Rangoon) was on 26 January 1949, using a DC-3 Dakota aircraft with the tail number RI 001 and the name Indonesian Airways. 26 January 1949 is generally recognized as the airline's founding date.[13]
The name Garuda is taken from the Hindu tradition: it is the name of Lord Vishnu's mount (vahana) and was introduced in 1949. During the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference at The Hague, from 23 August to 2 November 1949, Indonesian President Sukarno cited a Dutch poem by a renowned Javanese scholar and poet Raden Mas Noto Soeroto: "Ik ben Garuda, Vishnoe's vogel, die zijn vleugels uitslaat hoog boven uw eilanden", which means "I'm Garuda, Vishnu's Bird, that spreads its wings high above the Islands". The first flight under the name Garuda Indonesian Airways was made with a second DC-3 entering service in 1949. Its first flight under the new name was to pick up Sukarno in Yogyakarta on 28 December.[14]
Throughout the revolution, Garuda supported national interests and often carried diplomats on its flights. The Burmese government helped the airline significantly during its beginnings. The country's national airline, Union of Burma Airways, often chartered one of the airline's DC-3s for its own flights. Accordingly, upon Garuda's formal joint incorporation with KLM on 31 March 1950, the airline gave the Burmese government a DC-3.
By the early and mid-1950s, the airline operated a fleet of 38 aircraft, including 22 DC-3s, 8 Catalina seaplanes, and 8 Convair 240s. In 1956, the airline operated its first flight to Mecca with Convair aircraft, carrying 40 Indonesian pilgrims.[13]
Garuda's fleet continued to grow throughout the 1960s, during which the airline continued its expansion. It acquired three Lockheed L-188 Electras in 1961, which supplemented its Convair CV-240 fleet, before taking delivery of its first jet aircraft, the Convair 990 Coronado, in 1963, which allowed it to launch flights to Hong Kong.
In 1965, the airline took delivery of its first Douglas DC-8, and grew beyond the Asian market it was focused on, beginning scheduled flights from Kemayoran Airport to Amsterdam and Frankfurt via Colombo, Bombay, and Prague. Rome and Paris became the airline's third and fourth European destinations, with flights stopping in Bombay and Cairo to refuel. Flights to the People's Republic of China began that same year, with service to Guangzhou via Phnom Penh, the first Indonesian airline to do so.
Continued growth (1970s–90s)
During the early 1970s, Garuda Indonesian Airways took delivery of both the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 (first delivered in 1969) and Fokker F28 Fellowship (first delivered in 1971) for its short and medium-haul operations. The airline went on to take delivery of 62 F28s, holding the title of the largest operator of the F28 in the world. In 1976, Garuda took delivery of its first McDonnell Douglas DC-10, giving it the capability to carry more passengers and fly longer flights, and replacing the DC-8 and Convair 990 fleet on flights within Asia and to Europe. The DC-10 became an integral part of the Garuda fleet for the years to come, outlasting the newer McDonnell Douglas MD-11s, before the type was finally retired in 2002. In 1980, the airline took delivery of the first Boeing 747-200, complementing the DC-10 on high-capacity or long-range routes.
On 21 June 1982, Garuda became the launch customer of the Airbus A300 B4-220FFCC, the first variant of the A300 capable of being operated with two pilots instead of three. By 1984, nine of these were in service, supplemented by 8 McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, 24 DC-9s, 45 Fokker F-28s, and 6 Boeing 747-200s. In 1985, under Reyn Altin Johannes Lumenta, who had been CEO since 1984, Garuda Indonesian Airways made the controversial decision to hire foreign brand consultants Landor Associates to create a new logo, livery and brand, a project regarded as expensive and unnecessary at the time but later applauded as vital for Garuda's reputation and corporate identity as the national airline.
Under Lumenta, Garuda Indonesia also increased the number of flight frequencies and destinations, reduced ticket prices and collaborated with Merpati Nusantara Airlines
Difficult period (1996–2004)
The late 1990s and early 2000s proved a turbulent and difficult time for Garuda; accidents in Fukuoka (Flight 865) in 1996 and Medan (Flight 152) in 1997 added to problems caused by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, resulting in a drastic reduction in operations, including termination of service to the Americas and a massive scaling back of its European operations. Largely due to historical links with the Netherlands, Garuda continued to operate flights to Amsterdam after the initial cutbacks. The other European routes that continued were Frankfurt and London. However, Garuda attempted to launch its first non-stop flight from Jakarta to Europe with a Jakarta to Frankfurt service, continuing on to London and back on October 28, 2001, as Garuda Indonesia Flights 970 and 971, the route was short-lived and the route was axed in early 2002 due to the effect of tourism caused by the attacks in the US on September 11 the previous year, along with the ditching of Garuda Flight 421 earlier that year. Finally, both routes returned back to one-stop services until they were discontinued in 2003, with the Amsterdam route discontinued the following year on 28 October 2004. The situation was exacerbated by the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., the Bali bombings, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and the SARS scare, all of which contributed to a downturn in air travel and Indonesian tourism.[18] Shortly after, its earlier order for the Boeing 777 was deferred, and so was an order for 18 Boeing 737-800s to replace its ageing 737 Classic fleet.[17] By 2005, Garuda had largely recovered from its economic problems, swapping its order for six Boeing 777-200ERs for ten of the smaller
Munir murder (2004–2006)
On 7 September 2004, Garuda's reputation suffered further damage when human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, travelling to Amsterdam via Singapore on Garuda Indonesia Flight 974, was assassinated by off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto, who slipped arsenic into his drink sometime before the departure of the flight's second leg to Amsterdam. Munir was reported to have felt unwell several hours after departure from Singapore, during which time he was checked on by a doctor who happened to be on board and moved to the business class cabin to sleep. He died about two hours before arrival in Amsterdam, sparking an international controversy, during which time Priyanto, CEO Indra Setiawan, and deputy Rohainil Aini were all convicted of his murder, although it has been alleged it was under orders from the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency (Badan Intelijen Negara).[20][21][22] The airline was found negligent in failing to perform an emergency landing and was ordered to pay compensation to Munir's widow,[23] but failed to do so.
European ban (2007–2009)
In June 2007, the EU banned Garuda Indonesia and all other Indonesian airlines, from flying into any European countries,[25][26] following the crash of Flight 200 earlier that year. With the support of the international aviation industry for all Indonesian airlines, the EU promised to review its ban and sent a team of experts, led by the European Commission's Air Safety Administrator Federico Grandini to Indonesia to consider lifting the ban.[27] In August 2007, Indonesia's transportation minister announced that the EU would lift its ban hopefully sometime in October, saying that the ban was attributed to communication breakdown between the two parties and that discussions were in progress.
In November 2007, Garuda announced its intention to fly to Amsterdam from Jakarta and Denpasar with either Airbus A330 or Boeing 777 aircraft if the EU lifted its ban.[28] On 28 November 2007, the EU said that the safety reforms already undertaken were a step in the right direction for the EU to consider lifting the ban, but still did not satisfy the EU's aviation safety standards, and thus did not lift its ban.
Developments after the lifting of ban (2009–2020)
Following the lifting of the EU ban against Garuda Indonesia and three other Indonesian carriers which were Lion Air, etc, the airline announced in July 2009 an aggressive five-year expansion plan known as the Quantum Leap.[32][33] The plan involved an image overhaul, including changing the airline's livery, staff uniform and logo, and nearly doubling the size of its fleet from 62 to 116.[32] The Quantum Leap also plans to boost annual passenger numbers to 27.6 million in the same period, up from 10.1 million at the time of program launch through increasing domestic and international destinations from 41 to 62.[32] Route expansions included Amsterdam, with a stopover in Dubai, in 2010. As of 2014, Garuda flies to Amsterdam non-stop five times a week using a Boeing 777-300ER with continuing service to London, with the sixth weekly service to be added by the end of 2015. Other European and American cities such as Frankfurt, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Los Angeles
Controversy during the leadership of Ari Askhara
On 5 December 2019, Ari Ashkara was fired from his position for smuggling a classic Harley-Davidson motorcycle and Brompton folded bicycle. The motorcycle and bicycle were found by the Soekarno–Hatta International Airport's Customs and Excise team inside a recently delivered Airbus A330-900 aircraft.[56][57] It was revealed that Ari Askhara and other directors had been implementing various policies that harmed Garuda flight attendants, such as mutation without explanation, additional flight hours, and discrimination between employees.[58][59][60][61]
COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2023)
On 14 May 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the aviation industry, Garuda Indonesia furloughed 800 of its staff for at least three months. In June, it laid off 180 contracted pilots.[67] The airline implemented face masks for crew members following health regulations to prevent the spread of the disease. On 16 June 2020, after some passengers complained that they could not see the flight attendants' faces, Garuda president director Irfan Setiaputra said the airline was planning to replace face masks with face shields for its cabin crew.[68] Three days later, in response to public criticism of the plan, he said Garuda's flight attendants would not stop using face masks.[69]
Financial trouble
Due to the prolonged pandemic, Garuda Indonesia experienced problems in operations, management, and funding. Its debt has arisen and is unpaid, and the corporation is currently on the verge of bankruptcy and future closure by the government.[70] In the effort to save the airline, Garuda has cut around 30 percent of its workforce, reducing its staff to 5,400 from 7,861. Garuda claims that its board of directors and its commissioners have taken a pay cut as well.[71]
At the end of 2021, Garuda reported a debt of $9.8 billion to more than 800 creditors, complicating efforts for out-of-court settlement attempts during the COVID-19 pandemic, where Garuda's income dropped by 70 percent.[72] As the future replacement of Garuda Indonesia in case the corporation is deemed beyond saving, the government prepared Pelita Air Service, a cargo airline currently owned by Pertamina, to be the successor of Garuda Indonesia as the new flag carrier of Indonesia.[73][74]
Corruption case
On 22 June 2022, the Attorney General's Office of Indonesia said it was finishing its investigation of corruption in the purchase of CRJ-1000 and ATR 72-600 aircraft. Setijo Awibowo, the Vice President of Strategic Management, Agus Wahjudo, the Executive Project Manager of Aircraft Delivery and ex-vice President of Treasury Management Albert Burhan are suspects in the case. Emirsyah Satar, the CEO during the alleged corruption, has been arrested for another corruption case. The loss for Indonesia is reported to be US$609 million.[84]
