KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — The prime minister made it clear today that the federal government will not always bail out Malaysia Airlines.
At the same time, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Putrajaya has a duty to the troubled carrier.
“The government doesn’t want to be bailing out MAS so many times but at the same time, we must have a say,” he told a news conference in Parliament, referring to the airline by its old moniker.
He said the government may not hold the majority stake in the company, but needs to “preserve some government role”.
He then gave an assurance that the government will evaluate the options to find the best solution.
“We have changed the management of the airline many times. Everyone promises that they will turn around the airline but in the end, they all fail.
“This time around, we don’t want to give without really studying the capability of the people who may want to take over the airline,” he said.
Yesterday, Dr Mahathir disclosed that four separate offers have been made to the government for Malaysia Airlines, but no decision has been made as the government is still studying the proposals.
“We are studying all the proposals, some are concrete and some are merely verbal proposals. But we do not ignore anyone.
“The main thing is to preserve the identity of the airline as Malaysia Airlines, and secondly to see that the proposal does not result in the sacking of staff belonging to MAS today,” he said.
Earlier in the Dewan Rakyat, Dr Mahathir said that the government will ensure that the name ‘Malaysia’ is retained in any decision made in relation to Malaysia Airlines’ recovery plans.
