Garuda’s CEO got fired after stewardess sex-coercion claims

Garuda Indonesia’s CEO just got sacked over allegations that stewardesses were pushed into having sex with directors and high-level officials.

Yeah. “National airline” meets “group chat of predators with expense accounts.”

Ari Askhara, Garuda’s president director, got the boot after reports alleged a pipeline of coercion where young flight attendants were treated like a loyalty program perk for the exec lounge. Not “consensual relationships.” Not “misunderstandings.” The allegation is forced sex — the kind of thing that makes you realize HR isn’t a department, it’s a mop.

Garuda’s official vibe is the usual corporate exorcism: decisive action, zero tolerance, integrity, blah blah.

And let’s be real about incentives. Airlines are giant pressure cookers: brutal schedules, prestige hierarchies, bosses with god complexes, and workers who can be replaced faster than your checked bag gets “lost.” Power loves an environment where saying no means your career becomes turbulence.

Meanwhile, the executives who benefited from the setup get to play the classic game of Corporate Hide-and-Seek. If the allegations are true, this wasn’t a “bad apple.” This was a whole damn orchard with a procurement process.

If you’re reading this at your desk, congrats: you’re in the same economy where companies will fire you for being 4 minutes late, but somehow need a full PR cycle to discover that coercing employees into sex is, technically, not great.