Malaysia Airlines (MAS) cannot recover if it continues to have a bloated workforce, according to the head of a local think-tank.
Datuk Dr Chin Yew Sin, who is President of the International Strategy Research Centre, lauded Khazanah Nasional Bhd Managing Director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar for taking a firm stand in cutting 6,000 jobs as part of the sovereign wealth fund's 12-point Recovery Plan for the ailing national carrier.
READ ALSO: New MAS will need less staff, say analysts
"The Recovery Plan provides for a more ideal 14,000 workforce size, and retaining the 6,000 staff earmarked to leave is a recipe for failure.
"This time, it is no longer the financial restructurings as it had undergone before.
"This is a comprehensive and holistic restructuring to stop the national airline from haemorrhaging cash," Chin said.
"This is the final call for MAS after three restructuring exercises. International routes are now being cut.
"More international routes are expected to be taken out as MAS focuses on regional routes while other structural changes are in store in moving towards more profitable regional and domestic routes," he said.
He pointed out that cutting these international routes would not stop MAS from having its presence internationally as MAS is part of the OneWorld Alliance.
"The New MAS cannot be what the Old MAS was, it needs a structural as well as change in its work culture.
"And importantly, the key to turning around MAS is getting the stakeholders on your side i.e. the workers, unions, government, suppliers and all those in MAS’ eco-system," said Chin, who is a member of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's Consultation and Prevention advisory panel.
"This time around, the Government has the political will to turn around MAS. The workforce has to be reduced in order to save MAS.
"I hope the in-house unions will be more sensible and understand the Government's decision to rightsize the airline as this is the last chance to save MAS."
Chin said MAS' ending the Frankfurt route effective May 29 is just the beginning of the shrinking of several more international routes including Dubai, Paris and Amsterdam, and the restructuring of the national carrier in its early stages should not be distracted by requests from 'third parties.'
Among other things, Khazanah’s Recovery Plan provides the necessary enabling framework for change, delisting of MAS, moving its headquarters from Subang to Sepang, the MAS Act already passed in Parlliament and the creation of a New MAS to prepare and execute its own detailed Business Turnaround Plan.
Khazanah, which has a 100 per cent stake in MAS, will inject RM6 billion into the national carrier, which is expected to turn its first profit in 2017.
MAS currently flies to around 80 destinations across Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North America.
OneWorld membership brings together 15 of the world's leading airlines including MAS and around 30 affiliates, serving more than 1,000 destinations in 155 countries and carrying more than 510 million passengers a year -- almost a thousand boarding a OneWorld flight every minute, 24 hours a day.
It operates a combined fleet totalling some 3,500 aircraft and offering more than 14,250 flights a day -- an average of one OneWorld airline departure or arrival somewhere around the world every three seconds around the clock.
MAS's entry adds 16 new destinations into Oneworld's route map, strengthening the alliance's connectivity between key business cities in Asia.
The International Strategy Research Centre, a think-tank that engages in political, economic and cultural research, was set up 16 years ago by a group of academics.
Bernama
Mon May 04 2015
The New MAS cannot be what the Old MAS was, it needs a structural as well as change in its work culture. - FILE PIC
PDRM gerak unit skuba forensik, K9 cari bukti hari ini
Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) akan menggerakkan unit skuba (Unit Forensik) serta Unit Anjing Pengesan (K9) ke lokasi penemuan mayat Nur Farah Kartini Abdullah, 25, di Kampung Sri Kledang, Hulu Selangor, pagi esok.
Timbalan Ketua Polis Daerah Hulu Selangor DSP Mohd Asri Mohd Yunus ketika dihubungi Bernama berkata proses mencari bahan bukti akan dimulakan sekitar jam 9 pagi di kawasan parit berhampiran ladang kelapa sawit berkenaan.
Timbalan Ketua Polis Daerah Hulu Selangor DSP Mohd Asri Mohd Yunus ketika dihubungi Bernama berkata proses mencari bahan bukti akan dimulakan sekitar jam 9 pagi di kawasan parit berhampiran ladang kelapa sawit berkenaan.
Dewan Rakyat: Langkah meknoktahkan kemisikan tegar di Sabah antara tumpuan hari ini
Langkah-langkah untuk meknoktahkan kemiskinan tegar di Sabah terutamanya di lapan daerah yang dikategorikan termiskin di Malaysia antara tumpuan persidangan Dewan Rakyat hari ini.
Kagame, menang 99.5 peratus pilihan raya Rwanda
Paul Kagame meneruskan khidmatnya buat penggal keempat berturut-turut sebagai Presiden Rwanda, selepas memenangi 99.15 peratus undi dalam pilihan raya negara itu.
Polis kerah lebih 300 anggota kawal perlawanan Piala FA
Seramai 351 anggota polis ditugaskan bagi mengawal perlawanan separuh akhir Piala FA antara Terengganu FC (TFC) dengan Selangor FC di Stadium Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin (SSMZA) Jumaat ini.
Perisik Korea Utara berpaling tadah
Seorang diplomat Korea Utara berprofil tinggi yang ditempatkan di Cuba dikenali sebagai Ri II Kyu, 52 tahun, berpaling tadah ke Korea Selatan.
Dua warga AS antara yang ditemui maut di bilik hotel di Thailand
Jabatan Negara Amerika Syarikat ambil maklum mengenai laporan mengenai dua warganegaranya yang ditemui mati di sebuah hotel di Thailand.
EU tolak label UNRWA sebagai organisasi pengganas
Ketua Dasar Luar Kesatuan Eropah (EU), Josep Borrell mengulangi penolakan blok itu melabel Agensi Bantuan dan Kerja Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu untuk Pelarian Palestin (UNRWA) sebagai organisasi pengganas.
Mengimbau sedekad tragedi MH17
Pesawat MH17 Malaysia Airlines ditembak jatuh di timur Ukraine sejurus berlepas dari Lapangan Terbang Schiphol di Amsterdam, mengorbankan kesemua 283 penumpang dan 15 anak kapal di dalamnya.
Tragedi yang berlaku pada 17 Julai 2014 itu, kini memasuki tahun ke-10 kejadiannya.
Tragedi yang berlaku pada 17 Julai 2014 itu, kini memasuki tahun ke-10 kejadiannya.
Kerajaan teliti kaedah baharu lantikan tetap, pastikan kewangan negara lebih mampan
Kerajaan sedang meneliti kaedah baharu lantikan tetap bagi memastikan pengurusan kewangan negara yang lebih mampan.
PDRM gerak unit skuba forensik, K9 cari telefon, rantai Nur Farah Kartini hari ini
Proses mencari bahan bukti akan dimulakan sekitar jam 9 pagi di kawasan parit berhampiran ladang kelapa sawit berkenaan.
INFOGRAFIK: Shahril Ridza, Pengarah Urusan Khazanah Nasional
Khazanah Nasional Berhad hari iini mengumumkan pelantikan Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan sebagai Pengarah Urusan baharu dana kekayaan kedaulatan itu.
Shahril Ridza Ridzuan dilantik Pengarah Urusan Khazanah
Shahril Ridza dijadual memulakan tugas pada 20 Ogos ini.
Lembaga Pengarah Khazanah tawar letak jawatan
Kesemua lembaga pengarah Khazanah Nasional Berhad tawar diri meletak jawatan bagi memastikan peralihan dana kekayaan kedaulatan itu adalah terurus dan berjalan lancar.
GLIC teruskan peranan dengan ketelusan, tadbir urus lebih baik
GLIC diberikan taklimat hala tuju oleh bekas Menteri Kewangan Tun Daim Zainuddin, yang mengetuai Majlis Penasihat Kerajaan yang baru ditubuhkan.
Charon Mokhzani tinggalkan Khazanah Nasional
Dato Charon Mokhzani akan meninggalkan Khazanah dan KRI pada pertengahan bulan Mei 2018, selepas berkhidmat selama hampir lima tahun.
Khazanah Nasional untung besar bagi tahun 2017
Menurut Pengarah Urusan Khazanah Nasional, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, "keuntungan Portfolio Nilai Bersih Dilaraskan (NWA) adalah yang tertinggi yang pernah dicatat sejak tahun 2004".
Arul Kanda enggan ulas lanjut isu kepimpinan Khazanah
Khazanah mempunyai aset berjumlah RM145.1 bilion setakat akhir tahun lepas, dan mempunyai pegangan dalam lebih 100 syarikat dalam pelbagai sektor.