Page 28 - AAA MAY - JUNE 2015 Online Magazine

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Battling for Survival

Malaysia Airlines is taking steps for a final battle to revive and survive
By MF Kamaruddin
MALAYSIA AIRLINES IS “TECHNICALLY countless of moral support, the airline’s
bankrupt”, and the airline has been in dire health remains critical, barely surviving
financial straits even before the MH370 financial losses, amounting to USD180
and MH17 disasters in 2014, its new chief million at the end of Q3 2014, according to
executive has said. the airline’s Q3 report last year. Malaysian
“We are technically bankrupt...the government stepped in through Khazanah
decline of performance started long before Nasional, exercising a group-wide
the tragic events of 2014,” Christoph restructuring of Malaysian Airline System.
Mueller said, exceeding confidence that Despite efforts to save the airline, the
the beleaguered airline can recover from company is still slowly but surely spiralling
the wretched 2014 to become south-east down, deeper into its financial slope.
Asia’s leading carrier. Measures were taken in what seem to be
Mueller has confirmed previously as their final battle to revive and survive,
disclosed plans to cut 6,000 jobs, bringing upon us a theatrical battle of
shrinking its workforce to 14,000, are now survival of the once glorified Malaysia
being implemented ahead of a rebrand Airline System or known better as MAS.
in September which aims to repair the March 2014, when global attention
damage caused by the losses of MH370 directed towards the small peninsular
and MH17. Already cash-strapped and of Malaysia with the mysterious
running in losses for years by stiff regional disappearance of flight MH370, little
competition, the carrier was seriously known to many, even key industry players
affected by the two separate jet disasters. that in the same month, MAS appointed
The immediate priority for the airline is to RAMCO Systems to supply a total solution
Despite efforts to save the “stop the bleeding” in 2015, then to stabilise to replace its legacy systems within
airline, the company is still next year and start growing again by 2017. its Engineering Division, in its effort to
slowly but surely spiralling It has been a year since the tragic loss enhance MRO capabilities within the
down, deeper into its of MH370. Malaysia Airlines has been airline, focusing on its own fleet of 145
financial slope struggling since. While they have received aircraft from Malaysia Airlines itself
28 ASIAN AIRLINES & AIRPORTS MAY / JUNE 2015 WWW.ASIANAIRLINES-AIRPORTS.COM