Office Administration Study Program, Faculty of Economics, Yogyakarta State University held a Public Lecture by presenting practitioner lecturers from PT. Garuda Indonesia. Voettie Wisataone, who teaches Media Relations course, stated that this lecture with practitioner lecturers aims to enable students to directly explore the activities of practitioners in the field. "If yesterday students studied theory, this time they can directly ask practitioners," he explained in an online public lecture, Monday (5/10).

On that occasion Titis Panularsih, Sales Executive of PT. Garuda Indonesia explained Garuda Indonesia's Public Relations (PR) activities related to media or media relations. At the end of his presentation, Titis also gave critical cases that had been faced by Garuda Indonesia and how they faced the crisis. One of them is how Garuda Indonesia remains 'alive' in the midst of a pandemic. More specifically, he explained that PR must maintain public trust in Garuda Indonesia's services amid the spread of COVID-19.

"We want to show the public how we really care about passenger safety," he said. He described the efforts made by Garuda Indonesia, including through layered health checks. Garuda Indonesia has also implemented physical distancing by limiting the number of passengers. “We provide a special place for passengers who feel unwell. Then, we use a HEPA filter to periodically filter the air,” he explained.

This public lecture was enthusiastically attended by 90 students from the 2019 batch. A number of questions immediately appeared in the comments column shortly after the lecturer opened the question and answer session. The questions raised are closely related to PR performance, the crisis at Garuda Indonesia, and the profession (internship and work at Garuda Indonesia). Among them, Tasha Christine, who asked about Garuda Indonesia's policies for international and domestic flights in the midst of the pandemic. Hendi also asked questions about how PR deals with negative news in the mass media. [Sigit]