ID :
369823
Wed, 06/03/2015 - 14:37
Auther :

Right Steps Taken To Put Malaysia Airlines On Commercially Sustainable Path

By Mikhail Raj Abdullah KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 (Bernama) -- The right actions are being taken to put Malaysia Airlines Bhd on a commercially sustainable footing, a renowned professor of strategy and an expert researcher on the airlines industry, said. Professor Loizos Heracleous of Warwick Business School in the United Kingdom, has come out in support of Chief Executive Officer-Designate Christoph Mueller for his steps to resuscitate the financially ailing airline. Responding to comments that Malaysia Airlines was 'technically bankrupt,' he said while the national carrier's service levels historically have been very good, its efficiency has been lagging, leading to frequent losses. "As a legacy state-owned carrier, Malaysia Airlines has had some constraints in terms of optimising routes, staffing levels and general operational efficiency," he said in a an e-mail to Bernama. The tragic events of last year only hastened restructuring actions that were sorely needed and should have been taken a long time ago, said Heracleous, who has trained or advised executives from several blue chip corporations including IBM, Total, Rolls-Royce, KPMG, Standard Chartered, O2, and Bank of China. "It augurs well for the future performance of Malaysia Airlines that its new CEO has experience in leading successful turnaround programmes. It appears that he will be allowed by the corporate parent to do his job in terms of enhancing operational efficiency and competitiveness. "It is important that during this restructuring process Malaysia Airlines does not take its eye off the ball with respect to service quality. Its five-star quality rating is 'under review' by Skytrax and if service quality becomes inconsistent it is possible that it will emerge with a lower rating," he said. Skytrax is the global airline rating system for product and service, safety ratings and the benchmark for airline standards. --BERNAMA

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