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YOURSAY | ‘If you stay, you would end up managing debts rather than the airline.’
FellowMalaysian: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will be losing its second chief executive officer (CEO) in less than three years. The Irish Times reported that Peter Bellew, who became CEO in July 2016, would be returning to Ryanair.
Now we know that MAS being taken over by state-owned sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad was a huge and costly error.
It looks like our national carrier never learns from its mistakes. So please tell us, how much did taxpayers foot in terms of the salaries, perks and layoff payments given by MAS to Peter Bellew and his predecessor Christoph Mueller?
‘Mat Salleh’ CEOs will never understand Malaysia’s arcane policies of favouring one race over others in terms of employment opportunities, promotions or just receiving a pat on the back.
In first-world countries where they come from, what counts is your performance and not your skin colour.
Elsewhere, when they shop for new aeroplanes, it is through careful considerations based on the airline's needs and resources and the options available in the market.
In Malaysia, it is the prime minister who dictates and announces the acquisition of new aircrafts.
Anonymous_1424794168: I think it’s time to re-appoint an experienced Malaysian to head our national airline.
These expatriates come with a high pay and yet bolt off without real improvements being made. Khazanah needs to stop thinking only foreigners can do the job.
Cry, My Beloved Country: Obviously, the "Malaysian" working environment in MAS was too toxic for Bellew and Mueller to handle.
Edi Yoda: Bellew is making a smart pre-emptive move after being forced to buy the fleet of planes from Boeing. That would surely be a headache in managing an already ailing company.
Hopelessly: I'm surprised he even lasted this long. As a CEO, you can't have an 'outsider' like our famous PM doing businesses for the company without your knowledge/agreement.
If he is like any non-Malaysian CEO, he would not kowtow to such humiliation. And clearly, he did not. Sorry for getting you into this mess, Bellew.
Awang Top: Frankly, who would want to stay, having to manage a company that promises US President Donald Trump billions of dollars through the purchase of Boeing planes?
How does one go forward with such a stupendous promise? If you stay, you would end up managing debts rather than the airline.
Blogsmith: We lost a very good man to Singapore Airlines (SIA).
Cheong Choong Kong was my statistics lecturer at Universiti Malaya when Singapore grabbed him to become the CEO of SIA. And look what he did to SIA when he was there - it became a world-class profit-making airline.
In comparison, our national carrier has gone through multiple mega-bailouts. Pretty soon, after Bellew leaves, it will be milked by politicians and is definitely going to get more bailouts until there are no more funds available.
On the other hand, Cheong has gone on to become a board member of top-class Singaporean companies like OCBC Bank.
Clever Voter: MAS did not appear to have anticipated the sudden departure of Bellew, describing the announcement made by Irish airline Ryanair that he was returning to the company as its chief operating officer as "unexpected."
Bellew was hired as MAS’ new COO, but in less than a year, he was thrown into the hot seat as CEO.
No one person would be able to resolve numerous problems within a short time. The airline was underinvested as well as overmanned. Cost efficiency was not adequately addressed especially when it came to procurement, including catering.
Many suppliers had something to do with politicians and their associates. Imagine trying to remove any of them. Staff morale was poor. It isn't a surprise if Bellew decided that enough is enough with these unresolvable issues.
Vijay47: The fact that MAS had no inkling that their CEO was leaving the company says it all. And it only adds to their humiliation that they had to learn of his departure from a newspaper, suggesting that Bellew was not even bothered to extend the expected courtesy of informing MAS that he was leaving.
Things can only be worse when we consider that two special industry-champions left in the space of less than three years.
Obviously, the question now would be why somebody who was brought in under the glare of klieg lights with trumpets a’blaring would suddenly say ‘slán abhaile’ (Irish for 'safe home') and not even ‘selamat tinggal’.
Of course, a certain widely-talked-about stunt could be one of the reasons – that the snake-oil seller had turned to a new trade of buying aeroplanes. In bulk. The warning light is on, please put on your safety belt.
Honest: It goes to show how deeply troubled MAS is in terms of responsible and good governance.
No good CEO is willing to stay long enough and now, we actually have a CEO who would rather be downgraded to a COO position in another company. It says a lot.
Anonymous 2460391489930458: Well, like any self-serving employee, Bellew was not about to spill the beans.
It looks like he is now ready to bid adieu to Umno-controlled MAS. That's commitment and loyalty for you, but who can blame him?
Political interference has always been around in MAS and other government-linked companies. He is not dumb enough to stay around until all those new Boeing planes are delivered, since it may take a long, long time before any of those planes get off the ground.
So, MAS, who's next? Another Mat Salleh?
Mosquitobrain: Last option, sell it to the Chinese.- Mkini
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