An aircraft of carrier Garuda Indonesia. (Photo: Samchui.com)
Jakarta (VNA) - National carrier Garuda Indonesia has grounded two-thirds ofits fleet, citing leasing issues and maintenance needs.
Thecarrier wrote in a statement sent to the Indonesia Stock Exchange on June 9 thatit was operating only 53 airplanes of the 142 in its fleet, reported The Jakarta Post.
Ofthe non-operational planes, 39 are under maintenance. It did not specify thestatus of the 50 remaining aircraft, most of which are Boeing 737-800s andBombardier CRJ1000s.
Thecompany is still negotiating with lessors over the grounded aircraft, either toresume their operation or return them, the statement said.
Garuda has been facing deep financial problems because ofrecord low domestic and international air travel demand.
Thecarrier, which leases 95 percent of its fleet, is seeking to return many ofits leased planes to cut back on operational expenses.
Garudahas not submitted its full-year 2020 financial report, but its third-quarterfinancial report shows 1.07 billion USD in net losses in the first ninemonths of 2020.
TheMinistry of State-Owned Enterprises estimates that the carrier has over 4.5billion USD of debt and loses more than 100 USD million monthly.
Theairline is seeking to save on employment costs by cutting wages, delayingsalary payments, speeding up early retirement programmes and terminatingcontract workers.
"Thecompany estimates over 23 million USD in unpaid wages as of December 31,2020," said the statement.
Earlier,Indonesia’s deputy minister for state-owned enterprises, Kartika Wirjoatmodjosaid Garuda Indonesia was seeking suspension of debt repayments in order totry to avoid bankruptcy.
Wirjoatmodjosaid at a parliamentary hearing that Garuda and the government have appointedlegal and financial consultants for the process.
Ifan agreement is not reached with the creditors, the airline could go bankrupt,he said./.
VNA
