By : Hermawan Kartajaya
(Founder & CEO MarkPlus.inc)


December 2009 - January 2010

Hermawan Kartajaya (HK): We are very excited that Garuda's recent achievements, especially in 2009 has been very positive. First, Garuda who was once at a loss has now started to make profit. Second, Garuda's brand image within the country is very positive. When its industry started to reduce prices, Garuda stayed with its prices with confidence. Third, Garuda is now able to fly to Europe. How do you explain this, Sir?

Emirsyah Satar (ES): What we have reached today is thanks to the planning that we have executed since 2006. We did it in phases. In 2006 and 2007, we had to survive first, then in 2008 and 2009 we started to take steps. We are very consistent and we run our programs in a strategic matter. There are a couple of things that we have changed. And the most important thing is that we went back to the fact that Garuda is a services business.