KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — Poor Malaysia Airlines.

The airline appears to have lost its way, lurching from loss to loss as management tries to impose a turnaround plan that hasn’t worked so far.

Losses ballooned to RM1.2 billion last year, three times more than in 2012 and after a record RM2.5 billion loss in 2011. Management’s strategy is to spend its way out of the hole, ordering more planes so that it doesn’t lose market share to more nimble competitors.

1. All the Skytrax awards in the world can’t lift fortunes

Rated a 5-star airline year after year by Skytrax and billed as Malaysian Hospitality personified, Malaysia Airlines can be expected to be proud of its brand. Svelte crew and top notch grub are good things. They bring more customers on board. But ONLY if the price is right.

As competition intensifies, the airline’s yield per customer has dropped, meaning that the profit that it can make out of each passenger has dropped.. and that’s because passengers are shopping around and paying less because they can.

2. A turnaround plan isn’t turnaround reality

Malaysia Airlines’ turnaround plan and cost cutting hasn’t yielded fruit that analysts find palatable. Research notes after the carrier’s results scream “sell”. One even says: “Escape while you can.”

Its share price, once above TRM2 is now hovering around 30 sen. It cut routes, reinstated a few, then cut some more and announced that its focus would be on Asia, where demand for flights is rising.

The airline plans to retire inefficient, fuel-guzzling old planes, but in order to do that it must buy new ones and that costs a lot of money. And even if the strategy works, things could get a lot worse before they get any better for the airline.

3. Bad news for Malaysia Airlines could be good news for you

If you’ve got money, some spare time and aren’t bothered by your carbon footprint, 2014 might be the year for you. Airlines - budget, full-service or loss making - are all buying more jets, and that means pressure to put more bums on seats.

Malindo Air is expanding its routes from KL, AirAsia is getting new aircraft, and Malaysia Airlines will too. An ensuing price war could be your best bet for a holiday. There’s also added security in flying Malaysia Airlines, the government is unlikely to let the national carrier fail.