Najib: Stick to 2014 turnaround plan to save MAS

A file picture of a visitor looking out from the KLIA viewing gallery on May 27, 2014. – AP

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Airlines Bhd (MAS) should consider re-implementing its five-year turnaround plan from 2014 to save itself from financial turmoil, says former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The Pekan MP said that during his tenure as Khazanah Nasional Bhd chairman, the five-year turnaround plan was "working" and there should be no reason to shut down the troubled national airline.

"We had a rescue plan, a turnaround plan. Go back to that plan. We were confident when we were in office that we could do a major turnaround," he told reporters when met at Parliament lobby on Tuesday (March 12).

Najib referenced the mass retrenchment exercise that saw 6,000 staff axed as part of its restructuring plan in 2015.
He described it as a very "humane" voluntary separation scheme (VSS).
"A very humane VSS and we pruned down the number of employees at MAS. We were about to take off on some routes that were not profitable, (and) we discontinued (it).

"But, I think they (MAS) were affected by the downturn of tourists arriving in Malaysia, particularly from China," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday (March 12), Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that the government will conduct a study to decide on the fate of MAS, after its losses caused a massive impairment into Khazanah, its sole shareholder.

The options, Dr Mahathir said, were whether MAS should be shut down, sold off, or refinanced.

According to Najib, it would be a wrong move to get rid of MAS.

"No, absolutely not… MAS is our pride and joy. MAS must continue as our national airline and there must be a turnaround plan.

"The turnaround plan needed a bit more time and therefore there should be no reason why MAS should be sold off or closed down.

"Definitely, the rakyat will not support that move," he added.

Although there are other airlines in Malaysia, Najib said that these would never be able to replace MAS as the national icon.

"You cannot replace our national pride with something else. Almost every country has its own national airline and we must have one," he said.

The national sovereign fund said half of its RM7.3bil impairments registered in 2018 were involved in sustaining MAS.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd recorded a pre-tax loss of RM6.3bil in 2018, which was largely attributed to an impairment of RM7.3bil.

Last Wednesday (March 6), Khazanah managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said that a comprehensive strategic review of the national airline was being conducted to improve its performance.

He acknowledged that MAS did not achieve what it had intended in the original turnaround plan, which manifested in a huge write-down of investments.

The national airlines was privatised and taken over by Khazanah as part of a five-year turnaround programme that commenced in 2014.- Star