Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Airlines bans luggage on European flights

January 5, 2016 By bernard.montrel@gmail.com

Malaysia Airlines barred passengers from checking in baggage on flights to Paris and Amsterdam on Tuesday and Wednesday due to “unseasonably strong headwinds” on a longer flight path it is taking.
The move has baffled passengers, who slammed the airline on social media.
The airline said it now operates a long route to Europe via Egyptian airspace for safety reasons. It didn’t elaborate on the reason behind the new route, but a Malaysia Airlines jet flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a missile in eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
Malaysia Airlines said the longer flight path consumes more fuel and this, combined with “temporary unseasonably strong headwinds, is limiting the airlines’ ability to carry baggage in cargo.”
It said on Facebook that economy-class passengers can only carry a cabin bag up to 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds) while those in business and first class are allowed two pieces totaling 14 kilograms (30.8 pounds). The flights use Boeing 777 aircraft.
The baggage limit does not affect flights from those cities heading to Malaysia. The airline said it will continue to assess the situation.
Many passengers left angry comments on the airline’s Facebook page, slamming it for being the only airline to impose such a rule. Some of them said the airline should have sold lesser tickets, limited the number of passengers and rejected freight instead. Others asked for a refund of their tickets.
The airline said no compensation would be given but passengers could reschedule with no extra cost.
Losses of two flights in 2014 hit the finances of already struggling Malaysia Airlines. One flight heading to Beijing disappeared and is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, months before another jet was shot down over Ukraine.
Last year, the airline appointed its first foreign CEO, Christoph Mueller, the former head of Ireland’s Aer Lingus, to oversee a major restructuring. Mueller has said the airline can break even by 2018 after cutting 6,000 staff, selling surplus aircraft and refurbishing its international fleet.
ABC News

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) has imposed a temporary limitation on check-in baggage on its routes to Europe starting from tonight, citing safety and a need to conserve jet fuel due to “unseasonably strong head winds” as its reasons.
Until further notice, the national airline will only allow cabin baggage up to 7kg, with Economy Class passengers allowed to bring one piece up to that weight, while Business and First Class passengers allowed to bring two pieces totaling 14kg.
“In the interest of safety, Malaysia Airlines currently operates a long route to Europe, which combined with temporary unseasonably strong head winds, is limiting the airlines’ ability to carry baggage in cargo,” the airline said in a travel advisory posted on its website today.
“This longer flight path consumes more jet fuel and for safety reasons, Malaysia Airlines has had to impose temporary limitation on checked in baggage allowance.
“Passengers who wish to check in their luggage will be able to do so, however their baggage will only arrive later,” it added.
It is unknown how many flights and passengers will be affected by this directive today.
The restriction also applies on connecting passengers on codesharing airlines from the OneWorld affiliate programmes, and their baggage will also be offloaded.
MAB said it will continue to assess the changing situation over the region, and passengers will be updated when operations return to normal.
In response, flight tracking website Flightradar24 commented on its Twitter account that an Airbus A380 operated by MAB has a flying range of roughly 8,200 miles (13,200 km) while a Boeing B772ER has a range of 8,900 miles (14,300 km).
It compared this to the length of MAB flights from Kuala Lumpur, which are all well below such range: 6,400 miles (10,300 km) to Amsterdam, Netherlands, 6,500 miles (10,500 km) to Paris, France, and 6,600 miles (10,600 km) to London, United Kingdom.
Late last month, a MAB flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Kuala Lumpur unexpectedly began travelling south and surprised pilots who were expecting a northerly route during a Christmas Day flight.
The pilot of flight MH132 noticed that the Airbus A330’s strange path soon after takeoff, and immediately contacted Auckland Oceanic’s air traffic controllers, according to a New Zealand Herald report.
Malay Mail Online

Malaysia Airlines, Do or Die

September 13, 2015 By bernard.montrel@gmail.com

The new Malaysia Airlines which took off on Sept 1 is all dressed up for success after unloading a long list of excess baggage but it’s now a “do or die” situation for the national carrier, an economist said today.
Against the backdrop of a new era of massive inter-continental and regional competition, in which only the very fittest would survive, Ahmad Zakie Ahmad Shariff expressed confidence the new MAS could be reinstated to its former glory, being no longer the old flabby airline and with its new chief executive officer (CEO) pushing for global operational standards.
Ahmad Zakie, who is CEO of Menteri Besar Incorporated Kelantan, said he was impressed with the comprehensive restructuring carried out by Khazanah Nasional Bhd under the newly born Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) over the past one year, parts of which were on-going, for the airline to compete on a much stronger footing in a ‘cut throat industry’.
“I will put it simply. Any success or failure from here on is entirely on the shoulders of its current employees and can no longer be attributed to legacy issues. In other words, MAB you are now on your own”, he said.
The restructuring over the past one year, among others, saw MAB and Brahim’s Airline Catering Sdn Bhd (Brahim’s) entering into a new catering agreement, which was benchmarked against international standards and best practices, a significant milestone in the national airline’s journey to renegotiate its supplier contracts, which have long been blamed for its high cost structure.
Brahim’s had in early March agreed to shave off 60 percent from its payment from the old MAS, Malaysian Airline Systems Bhd, amounting to RM94.04 million as well as a 25 per cent reduction in its final monthly bill.
Cutting costs
With Brahim’s already successfully paving the way for the renegotiation of all contracts, it is anticipated the on-going review of some 4,000 contracts will help close the gap of the 20 percent higher operational costs with its peers.
In addition, the national airline has cut unprofitable routes, with plans to sell aircraft to reduce costs.
More cost savings are coming to MAB with more than 100 projects or initiatives identified to improve revenue and optimise costs.
Ahmad Zakie said these would lead to efficiencies in MAB that could be measured by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which Christoph Muellerv(photo), MAB’s CEO, had set for the 12 divisions, each of which has to stand and grow on its own for MAB to function as a financially strong, commercially driven entity.
“And the leaner workforce of 13,000 starting work at MAB on Sept 1 will also help bring down operational costs,” he added.
Khazanah Nasional said in its latest progress report following the transition of the old MAS to MAB that one year after it was mooted, the restructuring has shown sustained progress in all key areas under the five-year 12-point plan.
Recently when MAB commenced operations, Mueller together with his team greeted passengers at KLIA, showcasing a good engagement initiative and signalling the airline sees itself as a service-driven business and not merely a provider of transportation.
“This service-oriented approach sends a strong signal Mueller wants his 13,000 staff to focus on passengers and deliver top-notch service, as passengers are the lifeblood of the airline.
“A conversion to newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft is already underway, as can be seen from the recent lease of four new Airbus A350s which will improve the overall fleet efficiency and deliver exceptional passenger comfort, an important aspect in increasing passenger loads,” added Ahmad Zakie.
The CAPA (Centre for Aviation) reported that Malaysia Airlines was one of the 16 publicly traded airlines in Southeast Asia that improved its profit in the first half of 2015 and this, he said, augured well for the first year restructuring initiatives.
“However, fresh financial challenges threaten MAB’s profitability, as the drop in oil prices do not directly translate to savings by Malaysia Airlines, given the steep plunge in the ringgit causes a mismatch in revenues earned mostly in ringgit, while expenses are incurred in US dollars,” said the economist.
Malaysia Kini

Malaysia Airlines to have the A350 by 2017

September 11, 2015 By bernard.montrel@gmail.com

Malaysia Airlines has settled on the Airbus A350 as a cornerstone of its future fleet, signing a lease agreement for four of the advanced jets to begin flying from late 2017.
The A350-900s will be sourced through Air Lease Corporation, in a deal which also sees the Malaysian flag-carrier holding lease options for two more A350-900s as well as two A330-900neo aircraft.
The delivery timeframe spans from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the middle of 2018, and will see the A350s fitted with new business class seats which the airline describes as having “very large dimensions, and will be positioned above the industry standard for business class.”
“The A350 is the most technologically advanced aircraft and we are confident that it will deliver exceptional passenger comfort and improve the overall efficiency of our fleet” said Malaysia Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller in welcoming the deal.
‘Efficiency’ is a word set to echo through the halls of Malaysia Airlines as Mueller works to re-invent the troubled airline through what he describes as “hard reset” program.
This has already included plans to 6,000 jobs from its 20,000-strong workforce, putting two near-new Airbus A380s and four Boeing 777-200ER jets up for sale, and embarking on a series of lounge closures including Singapore and Perth.
MAS has racked up debts approaching $1.5 billion since 2011, with a dire situation worsened by last year’s twin tragedies of the disappearance of flight MH370 and the shooting down of MH17.
The airline was nationalised in late 2014 by Malaysia’s government-owned investment arm Khazanah Nasional, which has pledged a A$2 billion injection to fund the dramatic restructure aimed at returning the airline to profitability by 2017.
Australian Business Traveller