Nurul Izzah: Do we need more foreigners in MAB?

She says MAB's new CEO Christoph Mueller has appointed foreigners to head important and strategic positions in Malaysia Airlines Berhad.

PETALING JAYA: Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar today questioned Putrajaya on the need to appoint foreigners to top positions in Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB).

“MAB’s new Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller has appointed foreigners to head important and strategic positions in MAS,” Nurul Izzah said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

She was quoted in Malay Mail Online as saying that MAB’s chief operations officer, engineering division head, revenue department head as well as several others, including all of its consultants, were foreigners.

“So my question is: How can we allow this? We are talking about a time when Malaysia Airlines was managed like it was before,” she said, claiming that this may led to wastage of funds.

MAB is undergoing operational restructuring after it was privatised and taken over by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

The RM6 billion restructuring plan included a capital injection, streamlining of the workforce, a review of routes and renegotiation of supply contracts.

The PKR vice-president, debating on the Supplementary Supply Bill, said: “It was created to empower our Malaysian workforce… now it seems as if we do not have any expertise, when it was us who were the leaders of a top airline in the Southeast Asian region.

“So, my queries must be answered because if there is no objection from the government on this, then we are going to see a trend where wastage is the key prerequisite for the government,” she was quoted as saying.

The national carrier was delisted in August 2014 after Khazanah offered to buy out minority shareholders for a total of RM1.38 billion to restructure then Malaysia Airlines System (MAS), which suffered two air disasters that year.

The sovereign wealth fund later unveiled a 12-point turnaround plan for the carrier, titled “Rebuilding a National Icon the MAS Recovery Plan”, which included transferring all MAS assets to the new entity.