KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 ― Malaysia Airlines needs a new board of directors to ensure it is helmed by accountable and credible leaders, says the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam).
Its president Ismail Nasaruddin told reporters that the current board of directors still comprises the same people who have led Malaysia Airlines since the company's shocking net loss of RM2.5 billion in 2011.
“It does not make sense because the same people still run the show despite incurring continuous losses. We don’t want political appointees.
“We want clean, professional people and the right experts from the aviation industry,” he said after meeting the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) at Ilham Tower today.
He also added that the current chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail is not showing “any signs of doing a good job”, without elaborating further.
Ismail said this has been a long-time grouse of Nufam's but the previous government under Datuk Seri Najib Razak did not do anything about it.
“We sent numerous letters and memorandum to the respective authorities including Najib and the Transport Ministry. He apparently received it.
“Then again although we have made various complaints over the years, none were looked into,” he said.
The union, representing some 2,000 Malaysia Airlines flight attendants, is also urging the government to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement, leakages and wastage in the company.
“We want the CEP to re-open all cases against MAS regarding asset purchase, retrenchment of 6,000 employees and losses over the years. It is important because it involves taxpayers’ money.
“There are a lot of things that we don’t have the answers to. We want to know how MAS lost billions of ringgit.
“Until today we don’t know where the assets are and how they are distributed to other locations and what happened to the old planes? We want answers,” he said.
Ismail also questioned Malaysia Airlines’ decision to purchase 16 new airplanes from Boeing, as announced by Najib during a visit to the White House in 2017, although this is not the right financial time to do so.
“How can they claim they have no money and retrench 6,000 people but continuously make purchases of planes?” he questioned.
Ismail said he will submit a few other documents explaining financial costing of leasing or purchasing of an airplane to CEP’s chairman Tun Daim Zainuddin soon.
