Malaysia Airlines chief Ahmad Jauhari: DOES HE NOW HAVE THE WORLD'S TOUGHEST JOB?

HE’S a 59-year old chief executive at the helm of a multi-billion dollar business who should be riding a career high.

But instead, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya has been dealt two huge blows to his professional life. The chief executive of Malaysia Airlines has been faced with the enormous challenge of keeping afloat a business that has suffered the almost statistically impossible situation of losing two airliners in the span of four months.

You can only imagine a scene in which the chief executive received the phone call to inform him of the downing of MH17 by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine on Friday morning and the loss of hundreds of lives. After a rough few months followed by three years of monetary losses, Malaysia Airlines was staring down the barrel of potential bankruptcy. In 2013, the company posted a $392 million loss.

By Sunday, Mr Ahmad Jauhari had flown to the Netherlands and signed a condolence book at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

MH17 wreckage lies in a field near the crash site. Source: Getty Images

According to academic and economist Tim Harcourt, Mr Ahmad Jauhari is likely to have spent the days since the disaster in one crisis management meeting after another, as well as high level talks with the Malaysian government, giving the state’s investment in the airline.

He may even have been ringing the relatives of the victims. Mr Harcourt said a good airline boss would personally ring the victims’ families. He said: “former Qantas chief James Strong always called the families of anyone who had a medical emergency on board a Qantas flight.”

He had already come under attack after the disappearance of MH370 in March for the airline’s mishandling of communications in the wake of the tragic event. An “insensitive” text message sent to relatives informing them of their loved ones’ fates resulted in calls for his resignation. Addressing a press conference soon after, he said whether he resigned or not would be a personal decision he would take later.

So who is the man behind the title?

A sea of flowers at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, where MH17 took off. Source: AP

Mr Ahmad Jauhari has been with Malaysia Airlines since September 2011, after decades in the energy industry. He’s western-educated with an honours degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Nottingham University in the UK.

He spent almost two decades with Malakoff, Malaysia’s largest independent power producer, ending his tenure as chief executive after the company had been delisted from the stock market.

He is also a triathlete and iron man, which suggests commitment, resolve and discipline runs in his veins, which could steer him well in the challenges ahead.

According to Singapore’s My Paper, Mr Ahmad Jauhari had considered leaving Malaysia Airlines in 2012 but had been persuaded to stay by Prime Minister Najib Razak. It’s a decision he may now regret.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak is said to have persuaded Mr Ahmad Jauhari to stay with the airline when he considered leaving earlier. Source: AFP

Mr Ahmad Jauhari’s yearly salary for 2013 was MYR1.92 million ($640,000), which looks paltry compared to the millions other CEOs rake in for their roles but compares very favourably with the median monthly Malaysian household income of MYR5000 (roughly $20,000 a year). But he made more in 2012 when his remuneration was MYR2.63 million ($878,000).

Even before the dual tragedies this year, the company had already embarked on a cost cutting drive to improve the bottom line. Unfortunately, that means the company is in a weak position to handle the customer cancellation, potentially low booking rates and brand damage that will follow the latest episode. It’s also under threat from intense competition from low cost airlines such as Air Asia.

In its 2013 financial statement, the airline revealed it had MYR3.8 billion ($1.26 billion) in its cash reserves. That leaves little money to carry out fancy initiatives to woo customers back such as upgrades to new planes such as the Airbus A380 (list price $466 million each).

Mr Harcourt said there were a few choices for Mr Ahmad Jauhari. He said: “He could try to rebuild the company through a major restructure or he could concentrate entirely on crisis management and tell that narrative for the rest of his career.”

A candlelight vigil to remember delegates who lost their lives onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 en route to the AIDS Conference 2014 in Melbourne. Source: AFP

When asked about Mr Ahmad Jauhari’s lack of aviation experience, Mr Harcourt said he found that most longer-term executives tend to have aviation in their blood. He said: “They use to call most of those people aerosexuals or plane spotters. They sniffed jet fuel every day.”

Mr Harcourt said that even though Malaysia Airlines is also a victim in MH17 crash, customers will find it hard to draw a line between MH370, which remains a mystery, and MH17, whose fate could have befallen any number of airlines which flew the route over Ukraine.

Before MH17, but after MH370, Mr Ahmad Jauhari had signalled the airline would undergo sweeping changes but didn’t reveal any details. The good news for Malaysia Airlines is that while its share price dropped as much as 18 per cent in the first hours of trading on the stock exchange after MH17 crashed, it has rebounded since then to stabilise at pre-MH17 levels.

It’s also well-placed to try to capitalise on the growth in travel in Asia Pacific. In 2011, Asia Pacific accounted for 30 per cent of all global passengers, ahead of North America and Europe, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Ahmad Jauhari has said the company is facing its most challenging time. Source: Getty Images

In the company’s latest annual report, he wrote: “This is the most challenging time for our airline. In all our 41 years of operations as Malaysia Airlines, never before have we felt such a profound loss. [ ...] The future continues to look challenging with intensifying competition, continued high fuel costs, and a weak foreign exchange position. [ ...] It is a challenge, but one that we will take in our stride to maintain Malaysia Airline’s position as a highly relevant player in a growth market.”

Whether Mr Ahmad Jauhari decides to stay in the role or not is still up in the air. He has a history of sticking around with one company but he may, understandably, decide that the challenge is just too great.

Last year, Malaysia Airlines flew 20 million passengers globally and had 19,577 employees. -News.com.au