MAS outlines changes

April 13th 2015

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Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will migrate its operations, assets, liabilities and “selected employees” to Malaysia Airlines Berhad (NewCo) on July 1. Read More » The transition to NewCo was agreed at a March 18 board meeting where it also was decided that current MAS managing director and group chief, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, who led the carrier since September 19, 2011, will step down April 30, although he will stay on as a non-executive director until December 31. Yahya is making room for new CEO, Christoph Mueller, who will take up his new role on May 1.

“The […] leadership transition will enable Mueller to lead the overall MAS restructuring effort as it enters one of its most critical phases. It also will provide him with the executive capacity and an appropriate time frame to prepare NewCo to begin operations. This will have a positive impact on the long-term MAS restructuring effort and provide the best possible chance for a successful turnaround,” MAS said in a statement.

The turnaround program includes shedding a third, or 6,000, MAS staff. “Things have been set in motion and things have gone so far now that it (the plan) is irreversible. There is no turning back, and the cuts will involve senior and non-union staffers throughout the system,” a source told Malaysia’s The Edge Financial Daily. “The cuts will start at the top,” the source added. In February, it was reported that MAS had completed a wide-ranging talent assessment, which saw its top 500 senior executives undergo a three-hour behavioural interview with independent consultants. “The process of identifying the pool of staff that meets NewCo’s requirements is underway, following the completion of a comprehensive talent assessment exercise in February 2015,” the official statement read. Job offers will be sent out to the successful NewCo candidates on June 1. “On the same date, MAS will issue employment termination letters with a three-month notice to all its employees,” the carrier said.