KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Ailing national carrier Malaysia Airlines should stop receiving government protection and must learn to become independent in an era of rising competition, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chief Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said today.
The Pulai MP said he personally feels the government should no longer pump money into the state-owned airline since it has continued to bleed red ink despite receiving help several times in the past.
“Back then, MAS was protected by the National Aviation Policy so that was why the government had injected money into MAS because it fits with the policy.
“But now we have an open sky policy and the induction of low-cost airlines the policy is no longer suitable.
“If you ask [the] PAC, of course I am of the view that why should we waste taxpayers money on helping MAS when there are no sustained positive results,” he told reporters after chairing the bipartisan committee's meeting in Parliament here.
Last month, international newspaper the Wall Street Journal reported the possibility of bankruptcy to restructure MAS, which has been struggling through years of repeated losses, conflicts with labour unions and a series of mishaps involving its aircraft fleet, the worst being MH370’s disappearance.
The report, which quoted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak saying that “different modalities” have been suggested to save the ailing airlines, was carried a day after the carrier’s filing to Bursa Malaysia where it announced yet another staggering RM443 million loss in the first quarter of this year.
In the filing, MAS said the disappearance of MH370 had a “had a dramatic impact on the traditionally weak first quarter performance”.
In the same period of last year, MAS lost RM279 million.
The disappearance of MH370 that carried 153 Chinese nationals among the 239 people on board has hit the carrier’s market in China most, causing it to lose 60 per cent of its sales there.
This February, MAS announced a worse-than-expected fourth quarter result for 2013 that saw it rack up another RM343 million in losses, putting the airline RM1.17 billion in the red for the entirety of 2013.
In 2011, it chalked up a record loss of RM2.5 billion.
Nur Jazlan said Putrajaya should make the crucial decision now — if it wants to continue helping or let MAS learn to become independent.
“They must decide if MAS should continue to live, or if it should fly on its own”.
Earlier today Khazanah Nasional Bhd chief Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said MAS has enough capital to survive the year but long-term options are being considered to help the loss-making flag carrier stay afloat beyond the 12 months.
Azman, who is the managing director of Khazanah, the majority stakeholder in MAS, would not elaborate, however, if bankruptcy is among the solutions considered to save the airlines from its problems post-MH370.
Analysts, however, are increasingly raising the prospect of a bankruptcy or heavy restructuring of the group to stave off the looming disaster.
In April, a month after MH370’s disappearance, MAS chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said it could take the airline as long as six months to recover from the impact of the crisis, but indications are surfacing to suggest it is running out of time.
