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Almost three years along, Malaysia Airlines’ turnaround plan is being “revised,” said its CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, adding that the current plan was not working. The route network is being reviewed to prioritise “routes that can contribute,” he added.
Ahmad Jauhari Yahya
Fleet renewal will continue apace but new aircraft purchases have been put on hold. The airline’s Boeing 777 fleet will be refurbished. “We will be putting more seats in,” Jauhari said.
Despite calling for a “radical or sweeping change,” Malaysia Airlines’ top management were unable to give answers or divulge any significant details of the much-needed business restructuring plan.
In his speech to shareholders during a tense annual general meeting Ahmad Jauhari Yahya emphasised that radical, sweeping changes are needed to get the national carrier back on the right trajectory.
Plans are well advanced
Behind the secrecy, the restructuring plan is taking shape. A high-level source told KiniBiz that plans are well “advanced” with completion likely in two months.
The government holds a golden share in MAS through Khazanah Nasional’s 69% stake in the airline. As such, Khazanah is believed to be leading the restructuring of the airline.
Jauhari could only confirm that management was “working in consultation with stakeholders.”
During a press conference Jauhari largely used the standard line of “all options are being considered” when pressed for details on the restructuring plan. And despite pressure from reporters, Jauhari and chairman Md Nor Yusof refused to commit to concrete answers.
Md Nor Yusof
Md Nor and Jauhari stressed that the restructuring plan would be built upon “four levers,” namely the the MAS product or service, the strength of its fleet, its strong safety record and world class engineering team .
That said, their message lacked clarity and firm answers, sometimes even appearing contradictory.
On the speculated sale of Malaysia Airlines’ MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) division, Md Nor gave only a vague answers.
“We have to leverage on our good assets… and MRO is one of our good assets,” he said. However when pressed, he refused to rule out a sale.
Reporters were also curious if the airline would rule out bankruptcy as an option but were met again with the standard “all options are being considered” reply.
However Md Nor did note that “bankruptcy requires insolvency, and we are not insolvent.”
Last month, head of commercial Hugh Dunleavy ruled out bankruptcy as an option for MAS in an interview with Bloomberg.
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