KUALA LUMPUR: The government needs to set up a group of experts to review Malaysia Airlines Bhd’s (MAB) current operations as the RM6 billion restructuring plan is deemed a failure.
Former chief executive officer and managing director of Malaysian Airline Systems Bhd (MAS) Tan Sri Dr Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, in a media conference today, noted that Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the sole owner of the airline had since 2014 injected RM6 billion to support the entity’s five-year turnaround plan.
Abdul Aziz said rather than making profit, the airline had recorded losses for three consecutive years, with RM1 billion in losses in the first year of the restructuring plan.
“From 2015 to 2017, they had failed. As for the fourth year (2018) we don‘t know yet. We have to look at the end of this year to see the results. If it shows remarkable improvement from last year, then there is hope. But if they do just as bad in 2018, then the government must relook at the team.
Abdul Aziz said MAB should, under the open skies concept, continue to operate as a world-class airline.
"MAB should be flying more frequently into big markets like China, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand," he said.
He went on to highlight that MAB's extreme cash outflow was partly caused by the purchase of Airbus 380 aircraft, which he regarded as a bad investment.
Of the six double-decker A380 superjumbos owned by MAB, he said only two were fit for operations, while the other four were on the Aircraft on Ground status, indicating a problem that was serious enough to prevent the aircraft from flying.
“I don't know who instructed to buy those aircrafts. We’ve got the wrong aircraft. It is not for us, in Kuala Lumpur, to use A380.
"The first production (of those aircraft) are still (at the) experimental (stage). That’s why we are saddled with a lot of problems,” he said.
