Former Malaysia Airlines Managing Director Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, who is also MPM’s Special Committee to Save Malaysia Airlines chairman, doubted the accuracy of the profitability.
“These things can be put in many forms … I want to see, where do they put Malaysia Airlines’ liability of RM12 billion and the expenditure for the staff retrenchment package?
“We want to see all of these first.
“The public has the right because public funds are involved,” he told a press conference here.
Abdul Aziz was referring to reports saying that Malaysia Airlines recorded an improved revenue for the first quarter of this year on the back of low jet fuel prices.
While profitability is a priority, he said, it was not number one in the government business as opposed to performing a service to the community and creating job opportunities for the locals.
“If the government really wanted to make profits, it should have invested the RM6 billion in property or sovereign funds because running an airline is not easy and profitability takes time,” Abdul Aziz added.
The MPM said the retrenchment of 6,000 jobs, as part of the airline’s turnaround plan, was a waste considering the government had invested heavily in the local talent pool.
Abdul Aziz said the airline had been doing badly over the last 15 years and the government should establish a commission of inquiry to identify the responsible party for the losses.
This way, he said, the committee could come up with proper recommendations and should there be any act of mismanagement, the guilty party must be punished.
Abdul Aziz, a lawyer by profession, was appointed managing director and chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines in 1982. When he retired in 1991, he left the company with RM5 billion in cash reserves.
Meanwhile, the MPM also urged the government to appoint a new head for the airline immediately and consider the many qualified individuals from the local talent pool.
The MPM will also send a formal letter expressing its concern about the drastic recovery plans for the company by Malaysia Airlines’ current chief, Christoph Mueller, to Khazanah Nasional Bhd next week.
– BERNAMA