MAS may cut staff by 30%
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Khazanah Nasional, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, has unveiled a 12-point plan to enable Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to achieve sustained profitability within three years of de-listing, by the end of 2017.
The plan includes cutting the troubled airline’s staff by 30 per cent.
Khazanah managing director Azman Mokhtar said the plan involved a comprehensive overhaul of the airline.
Khazanah is the investment holding arm of the Malaysian government.
“At its core, the plan involves the creation of a new company, which will house the ‘new MAS’ and the migration of the right-sized workforce and work practices and contracts” into the new firm, which he called “NewCo” when he briefed reporters at Khazanah headquarters yesterday.
The MAS recovery plan has four categories: governance and financial framework, operating business model, leadership and human capital, and regulatory and enabling environment.
Azman said this plan followed a review of all relevant aspects of MAS’s operations and operating environment that commenced in February.
He said current MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya would continue to lead the old company during the transition period over the next 10 months to July 1, 2015.
“Khazanah has commenced the search process for the CEO of NewCo and we envisage that the conclusion of this search will be announced in due course, expected to be before the end of 2014,” he said.
Azman said it was estimated that NewCo would require a workforce of about 14,000, representing a net reduction of 6,000 or 30 per cent from the approximately 20,000 current staff.
He said Khazanah would invest in a “corporate re-skilling centre” to upgrade the skills of the appropriate MAS staff who did not migrate to NewCo.
