Dahlan Iskan Sets One-Year Deadlines for Merpati

PT Merpati Airlines (MNA) is guaranteed won’t be closed as long as there is no loss on the operational side. However, PT Merpati really has to show his hard work in the year ahead. This was stated by Minister for SOEs, Dahlan Iskan.

Dahlan Iskan dan Merpati

Dahlan explained the demand from Merpati’s employees to work harder to extend the life of the airline. However, Dahlan hoped that the hard work of the employees can proof that Merpati airlines can still survived.

Dahlan highlighted that it is alright if there is still some loses, as long as there is no operational loss. Loss caused by high interest rate or past debt burden are still acceptable.

Moreover, the IDR 561 million government-funding given to support Merpati doesn’t guarantee anything. In fact, Dahlan ever expressed some time ago that that big sum of money would be better spent on buying plantations rather than investing on Merpati. As there is no guaranteed that Merpati airlines can survive with the support fund.

If every Merpati employee gets 2 acres of palm land each, he continued, it could become a benchmark of the employees’ welfare. "But the Merpati employees believe that with their hard work, Merpati could survive. Oh well, we just wait for the next year results," he concluded.

Source: Analisa