Ex-CEO Rahman proud of MAS achievement
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Taking something little and turning it into an airline as big as any other - that is the achievement Aziz Abdul Rahman is most proud of.
Today, he is 81 years old and still a lawyer.
He’s lived in the same bungalow in Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur, for five decades.
When he retired at 58, he had options: live a quiet life or do what he was originally trained to do, law.
He had experience, in administrative law, corporate, and aviation law.
It seemed silly to let it all go to waste, so he chose the latter. You can still see him in court today, clad in robes. At 81, he may be one of the oldest lawyers around.
Every item in his home seems to represent stages of a life lived, but none more so than the dusty object sitting atop a cabinet tucked away in the room corner.
We climb a chair to retrieve it: a 40-year old replica of a Boeing 707. About the width of my forearm, the model features a red stripe down the sides of its white body and a wau (kite) on its rudder: “To represent controlled flight,” he says.
Printed across the side in small caps are the words “Malaysian Airline System”. It’s in red, the colour before MAS was rebranded to its trademark blue and red.
Though it’s been 20 years since he returned to law, and his life today is as busy as it ever was (he sits on the advisory committees for a variety of NGOs), the proudest achievement of his life was helping to turn MAS from something very small, into a global, award-winning, international airline.
When he retired as managing director and CEO in 1991, he left the company with a cash reserve of 5 billion ringgit (Bt49.8 billion).
It feels pointless asking about how he feels about the airline’s latest ups and downs – over the last two decades it’s undergone wild swings in profitability, three business turnaround plans, and a string of different CEOs.
The unresolved disappearance of Flight MH370, and the recent crash of Flight MH17 which was carrying 295 passengers on board, all of whom died, are two of the most recent tragedies that have left a black mark on its history.
One thing Aziz will say, is that one of the greatest challenges in running an airline, is staying on top of things.
How MAS will move on from the current situation is anyone’s guess. But whatever happens, MAS will always hold an air of nostalgia for him.
