Garuda boss says bankruptcy off table despite Covid strains

The head of Indonesia’s flag carrier said better terms on aircraft loans will help it avoid falling into bankruptcy as the nation grapples with surging coronavirus cases. “We discussed the risks, the benefits, the pluses and minuses and the company’s leadership decided against it,” Garuda Indonesia President Director Irfan Setiaputra said when asked in a Sept. 18 interview about considering bankruptcy proceedings. Garuda is expecting a 8.5t rupiah ($580m) bridging loan from the government to come through this year, according to Setiaputra, an industry outsider who joined the airline in January just before the Covid-19 outbreak began. The injection would help after the airline suffered a $713m net loss in the six months through June, though it is taking longer than initially hoped, Setiaputra said. Setiaputra said he’d reassured lessors that the company wouldn’t enter bankruptcy. “I think that has given them a lot of confidence and now they see Garuda as one of the airlines in this region with good prospects for recovery.” Yet the backdrop is worsening in Indonesia, which has nearly a quarter of a million virus cases. There were 4,176 confirmed infections on Monday alone, a daily record, and an official from the taskforce handling the pandemic response warned that Jakarta’s health system is overwhelmed.<br/>