N Azman

Go team did not fill up the aircraft. Longer range possible on (much) smaller payload.

Well...great for us but not so great for bottomline. ROI on refurbishments are typically 8-12 years. So unless you plan to use till 2022 onwards.....

Is KUL-PEK now back at 1x daily? Tried to book just now and I only see one flight for my dates..... Could be a direct response. In which case - good, quick move on MAS' part.

Functionally? we do. Its within the DCA Flight Ops Division. Should we have a standalone Govt Agency like NTSB? Well that's open for debate. Personally i think if the function is already served within DCA, we don't need one as our air transport space isn't big enough - and we don't have that many GA activity. But then again its up for opinion. For ground transport there's already SPAD and MIROS.

My humble 2c regarding the release of info. Investigative bodies rarely reveal key evidence before conclusion of the investigation. Why is this? to avoid a certain bias developing, to avoid mis-interpretation of the evidence, and of course, further family distress. By revealing key info early - you're allowing a circus-like 'trial-by-public' such as what we're seeing with a certain sportsman in South Africa. Have you ever seen NTSB/AAIB/etc releasing full CVR transcript PRIOR to the full report? if you have, please let me know. To my limited knowledge, i have not seen any. At the very least, its with a prelim report, which comes at least after 75% of the investigation is done. Just because daily telegraph/daily mail/guardian broke the transcript news (which by the way looks very dodgy to anyone who has an inkling of cockpit communication)...does not mean DCA should just pants down and release everything just to debunk them. For all you know, it could be a journalistic trick to get the authorities to release the transcript. I wouldnt put the media past this.

The source is credible. Everyone should read this.

More often than not the difference between PR heaven and hell, is just the manner in which policy is executed. Not the policy itself. In this case I think AK did the right thing. Whether or not they appeared mean/heartless? nobody knows. Some years ago I was on a flight in Europe where an almost similar event occured. The captain himself came out, and spoke to the mother, cradled the baby, hugged the mother, shook hands with some passengers, and passed the case on to the ground staff 5 minutes later. Mother sobbed, but nodded in agreement with solution. Some pics snapped. Voila, PR heaven.

No worries bro. These moves are almost nothing compared to the stuff test pilots do on proving flights, and even post MRO C or D check. The bird can take it, and much more. Mileage wise, you'd have to see the entire test schedule. But for airplanes, I wouldnt wanna take delivery of any aircraft with '0' on the odometer. In fact, my comfort level increases with the amount of G's the bird has been taken through without damage. You know how it is, bumper kereta tercabut, can always park tepi jalan and curse that proton dealer. If anything were capable to be tercabut on an airplane, I'd want it to come off before i pay. If damage, MAS will be fully compensated and any dings are borne by Airbus before transfer of title is concluded. No biggie. In fact, i believe the publicity MAS gained on this little exercise far outweighs the additional cycle (if any above normal proving schedule). OT but slightly On topic - a few months ago Embraer even did a world tour with one of Frontier's E190s pre-delivery. All part of the plan, and it is all priced in (certain discounts were on offer due to the use) but won't be disclosed. So its a fairly normal thing for a/c pre-delivery to be used for publicity.

Sorry, just wanna share some facts. Spot on. Wrong. That's all in the past. GLCs travel desk are liberalized. MAS would have to fight with CX,EK,SQ and win over their business just like anyone else. Sure, there's always an inclination towards MAS, but that's more customer preference, schedule fit and also speed to destination (other airlines need to transit). I personally know two GLC C-suite officers who is an avid SQ flyer (even to MH destinations), and MH is trying hard to win over these guys. Even Government Departments are moving towards this direction - many are taking AK and even SQ. Some still operate on warrants, but in time, all will be liberalized. The passing of the malaysian competition act enforced by the MyCC, as well as the upcoming Trans Pacific Partnership Treaty supports this. Not sure if all need approval from JPA (JPA must be swamped with travel requests then!) Students on JPA scholarship maybe yes, but definitely the blanket rule is gone.

Keep us updated Hakan. Found the pilot yet?

RRSM in action possibly. Not that dramatic from the cockpit (or anywhere else) but this sure is a great photo!

Sure. Not arguing that it is a path of less resistance. However, it is still not a bailout. Let's call a spade a spade here. There's competitive yields and theres no guarantee. I disagree on the second point, that foreign financiers will always ensure theres GG - but hey, thats your opinion and i welcome it

MAR, catch the A380 home la. Then can have our mamak session.

Great job, kudos to Bapak Emirsyah. Formula very simple. Downsize, renew, regrow.

I think we need to be clear with words here flee. This is not a 'bailout' financing. Airlines issue bonds all the time and 5-minutes of googling would reveal that a number of other airlines have and will issue bonds for capex and opex requirements (Emirates, AA, HK airlines, etc.....). It is just simply, another way of getting funding. Plus there is no government guarantee here. Hence the word 'bailout' is completely false.

No. Pension funds is KWAP. EPF is KWSP.

In hindsight, no, the Sukhoi SSJ was not equipped with ejector seats. But why not? Certainly wouldn't call it 'illogical'. Both the B-2 and the B-52 had ejector seats and both have almost commercial aircraft-like cockpit environment (no glass canopy, +overhead panels). The space shuttle and the planned buran also had one. Wonder if the test pilot community (no matter how small) will ask for such seats to be fitted on prototype a/c in the future. Sure, it wouldn't save the lives of the unsuspecting joyride passengers but numerous test flights with zero pax have crashed before. I recall the Tu-144, A330, the F-22(pilot survived), the Jetpod, the G650 and now the sukhoi. (Didnt count the A320 as the habshiem crash is post-production). Pilot error or not, is secondary. Lives should be saved first. Many lives are lost and not remembered in the name of development and safety. Surely the value of a human life should be more than the incremental developmental cost associated.

Correct! so those saying "too cheap..." or "too expensive".... uhhhhh would love to know what's the 'right' price for a R-77/AA-12 missile and whether the comparisons have matching specs and systems

Not a government apologist, but comparing military systems and equipment with commercial equipment prices is a rather....daft thing to do. Should do some research on how much more expensive military systems on board an aircraft (and other associated costs even on the fuselage like underbody reinforcements). I'll give you a hint - an A330 MRTT is easily 2.5 - 3x more expensive than an equivalent A330-200 P or F. Plus each mil spec aircraft is highly customisable to the point that the prices on equipment that may look the same to the average spotter - may differ by 10%-300%. So unless someone in this forum has a detailed breakdown on what each of the systems cost, and its cost-benefit-analysis vis-a-vis a similar competing equipment - maybe the armchair political advisors banging tables about government spending should reserve their comments to malaysiakini or similar forums. Back to topic then I think a competent AA missile is needed to complement the SU-30. (No use driving mercedes SLS on 13" rims innit?). But don't we already have the Amraamski which is bought together with the MiG-29? maybe some mil analysts here can shed some light on potential upgrades on this derivative

Really? always thought belly cargo is volumetrically limited and not related to number of pax on flight. unless of course, you're talking about payload restricted flights where dist is within 10% of a/c operating limits...

about time. A340 completely pwned by the 777-300ER and 777-200LR.

I got mine. Paid 3187 buxx for a return paris ticket. EK quoted 37xx, SQ also around there. ok worrr. Used the money saved to buy PSG vs athletic bilbao europa league game. worthitttt.

Good articles KK. All well and nice. But the fully developed nations don't need help anymore, they need liberalisation. Not sure where u live but in Malaysia, we need to help encourage and boost local industries. The development timeline goes like this : Poor -> underdeveloped -> developing -> developed 'Poor' countries need basic help like energy and amenities. 'underdeveloped' needs basic economical structure. 'Developing' needs further investments and introduction of tech and efficiencies. 'Developed' has everything, and must be allowed to shine without shackles. Full liberalisation, full freedom for innovation - just like what your friend from google said above. You need to figure out whats right, for the right time. All this perfect sounding article that makes us go googoogaga over idealistic measures like 'zero-corruption' is all well and nice. But sorry la, we're not there yet. NOWHERE near 'developed' for aviation. I for one don't want to wait till corruption index is zero before i develop anything. For aviation, we're somewhere between underdeveloped -> developing.

i'm thinking about JFK's famous quote right about now. In EU, economic recovery doesnt necc mean FDI intake. Theyre mostly developed. In fact, they need to curb outsourcing! Very different from situation here. Creating employment is priority everywhere bro. But we want more, we want QUALITY employment through these industries. Uhh, well i suppose you're entitled to take the negative view. Like how our lives are doomed under gomen, we'll never be able to buy expensive car/houses as only politicians and corrupt people do, gomen rapes our coffers, enriches the cronies, yada yada yada. Just saying there's a lot of positives also to be gained from a well drawn policy. like what ive mentioned numerous times in previous posts. Life aint perfect. for every major project maybe there will be some cronysm and corruption... but why focus on 1 enriched bugger, when 1,000 jobs and a new industry is born in our backyard? Seems awfully toxic and negative to me. cheers and happy diwali

Many companies/projects ask funding/grants for infra/tech/training from gomen bro. name of the game. If im looking to invest in foreign country X, i would ask for everything short of furniture. To your statement "without much hassle".... uhh.... i take it you've never filed and managed an application for incentives from gomen agencies? looking to build a policy that will insert some KPIs targets and predictability in processing. What about it? OK. not automotive thread then. Maybe another thread called "gomen's monopolistic and restrictive behaviours"