HAHA.. this is going down hill.. if the government can fix it problems..
Seek help from AirAsia on saving MAS, DAP tells Putrajaya
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein should "put aside egos" and seek AirAsia founder Tan Sri Tony Fernandes's expertise to help save ailing national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS), DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today.
Lim said MAS's more than RM4.1 billion in losses in the past three years should prompt its owners, Khazanah Nasional, to seek solutions by coming to terms with the fact that its current cost structure is just not viable.
"Khazanah must come up with a concrete plan to rescue MAS, which must include the adoption of international practices of open competitive tenders and performance-based assessment for all workers, including top management," said Lim, who lamented the absence of any "turnaround plan" for MAS.
"MAS may think that the losses are sustainable because it still has a cash balance of RM3.9 billion at the end of last year but it is irresponsible, if not suicidal, to continue with the 'business as usual' attitude," he said in a statement.
Hishammuddin and Fernandes recently engaged each other on Twitter after the latter complained about the delay and cost of the new budget carrier airport.
Lim, who is the Penang chief minister, also warned of competition from new budget carrier Malindo Air.
Saying his party does not agree with a suggestion by Singapore Business Times that MAS should declare bankruptcy to revive itself, Lim, however, drew attention to "overstaffing and lopsided procurement contracts from maintenance to catering".
"No one is surprised that cronyism and hanky-panky are two of the main causes of MAS' continued decline," he added, while saying that MAS still could not compete with AirAsia despite tens of billions of ringgit from taxpayers.
In contrast, Lim said AirAsia was a success story despite not getting public funds.
He said the cost overruns in the klia2 project showed that the Transport Ministry was clueless.
The project has come under scrutiny from the opposition after its initial cost of RM1.6 billion was revised to RM4 billion, as well as delays.
"Fernandes had pointedly said the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang only costs RM250 million, a pittance compared with klia2's RM4 billion price tag.
"If the ministry does not accept his expertise, it is at MAS' loss," added Lim.
Last week, MAS reported its fourth straight quarterly loss for 2013 and chalked up RM1.17 billion in losses for the year – three times as much as in 2012.
THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER...