People
September 1st 2014
The search is on for a successor to Garuda Indonesia’s CEO, Emirsyah Satar, who has lead the transformation of the flag carrier in the last decade, but is required under Indonesian law to step down. Read More » Any head of a state-owned enterprise must resign after eight years with the company. Satar, a banker by profession, was Garuda’s chief financial officer before he was offered the top job in 2005. The Jakarta-based airline is going through a rough patch, confirmed by its latest interim loss of US$212 million, as competition from budget carriers and the deep pockets of rival, Lion Air and its subsidiaries, gain market share in a sustained fare discounting war.
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Satar, who was Orient Aviation’s Person of the Year in 2010, streamlined the airline’s network, steered the carrier through a period when Indonesian airlines were banned from flying in Europe, launched the carrier’s IPO and established budget carrier, Citilink to compete with AirAsia’s Indonesian affiliate and fast expanding Lion Air. Satar, who was a primary school classmate of U.S. president, Barack Obama, when the president and his family lived in Jakarta, is due to step down next month. He has said he would like his successor to come from within the ranks of the airline.
