Airline News
Mueller to unveil new “MAS” this week
June 1st 2015
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is set to unveil a rebranding strategy this week to complement its overhaul, including changes to its fleet and network strategy. Read More » Christoph Mueller, MAS’s new chief and former Aer Lingus boss, said the ‘New MAS’ would be like a "start-up" and added the airline had the “weapons” to make a return to profitability within three years “doable”.
"I'm hired to run the new company entirely on commercial terms and there's very little margin for error," Mueller told Reuters at the Kuala Lumpur office of Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional, which took MAS private late last year as part of a 6 billion ringgit ($1.66 billion) restructuring. "It's not a continuation of the old company in a new disguise, everything is new," said Mueller, who helped turn around carriers Aer Lingus, Belgium’s Sabena and Germany's Lufthansa. Mueller said there were “lots of vacancies in the management ranks” and as such, MAS would begin recruiting new executives “as early as next week”.
Apart from the brand, analysts said the key to a revival would be the management's ability to reduce costs, deploy capacity more efficiently, create a profitable network that leverages on Kuala Lumpur's position as a regional hub and partnerships with other airlines. Mueller confirmed MAS has been trying to sell two of its A380s and would likely have fewer planes overall, but added the airline would keep all of its current A330s, B777-200ERs and B737-800s. In the coming weeks, MAS will withdraw Frankfurt, Kochi, Krabi and Kunming from its network, with strong rumours that Amsterdam is next in line for termination. Malaysian Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, has confirmed MAS aimed to cut its long-haul fleet and routes to concentrate on regional transit hub business. “If [the airline] decides to cut routes in Europe, for instance, we will offer them to AirAsia X or Malindo,” Liow added.
MAS is also expected to shed up to a third of its 20,000 staff this week, although all employees will reportedly be given options of termination and retraining, or re-employment under new contract terms. MAS has established a Corporate Development Centre for transition training and counselling. Concurrently, both Qatar Airways and Korean Air have made moves to recruit former MAS staff. MAS’s powerful cabin crew union, the National Union of Flight Attendants, has said it would mount protests if the retrenchments are implemented.
