Rusdi started his aviation business in October 1999. With an initial capital of US$10 million,he initiated the "revolution" in the world of aviation with a low cost carrier concept.[citation needed] The breakthrough was causing trouble for other airlines. In just six years,Lion had 24 aircraft consisting of 19 MD-80 and five DHC-8-301 aircraft. In terms of passenger numbers,Lion won over 600,000 people per month or controlled 40% of all market segments. In 2004 Lion Air took second place in number of passengers transported,behind Garuda Indonesia. He continues to develop Lion Air's businesses and intends to become a market leader in domestic flights. So he continued to prepare for the start of infrastructure,flight routes,to increase the number of aircraft.
Rusdi Kirana became active in politics after stepping down from his business leadership role in Lion Air Group.[5] He started to be active in politics in 2013 and joined the National Awakening Party (PKB) as early as January 2014,becoming the party's vice chairman.[6] He was one of the candidates for Minister of Transportation during Joko Widodo's first term.[7] However,Rusdi Kirana prefers to be an ambassador instead of a minister,citing the potential of conflict of interest as Rusdi Kirana still owns shares of Lion Air.[8] He was nominated by PKB to be a part of the Presidential Advisory Council and on January 19,2015,he was sworn in as a member in the council.[9][10]
On November 16,2015,Rusdi Kirana issued a warning against Minister of Transportation Ignasius Jonan for alleged defamation related to the proposal to build Lebak Airport,Banten[11] after Jonan made a comment against him,accusing him for wanting to close the Curug Indonesian Aviation Polytechnic in order to build the airport.[12] Rusdi Kirana made the warning saying that the accusation was personal and he won't be issuing it if Jonan's comment doesn't slight him on personal level.[13] On the next day,Jonan apologised and retracted his statements.[14] Rusdi and Lion Air's lobbying on Lebak Airport's construction ends up being cancelled as the plans did not meet the government's requirements.[15]
In 2017,Rusdi was appointed as Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia.[16] He have served his position until 9 July 2020. As he served as Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia,he had withdrawn his membership from PKB for the sake of duty for the country.[17]
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