Nik H.
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Posts posted by Nik H.
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The Star (Thursday January 31, 2008)MAS can meet 5-star value carrier goal
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) believes it can achieve its ambition of becoming a “five-star value carrier” (FSVC) under its new business transformation plan (BTP) by making key changes to how it services its customers.
The national carrier will draw from the experiences of three international airlines, change the type of food it serves passengers and place more emphasis on Internet booking to become an FSVC.
MAS also believes the low labour cost in Malaysia, its reputation as a five-star airline and its ability to venture into maintenance, repair and overhaul business would give it a better starting advantage in becoming an FSVC.
“We will offer products and services that provide our customers with more value compared with those of our competitors,'' MAS said in its BTP. “Our target customers are those who want service excellence and quality, and do not make decisions solely on price.''
To become an FSVC, MAS intends to offer the products and services of a five-star airline but reduce costs so it can offer low fares as a value carrier.
MAS has forecast losing RM650mil to RM1bil in 2012 if it does not transform itself into an FSVC. It sees the operating conditions being hit by overcapacity and liberalisation if no changes are made to its business model.
While delivering such kind of value to travellers, MAS said that had to be matched by choices on how money was spent to ensure a decent return on every ringgit spent.
For example, MAS said modifications to hot meals on long-haul sectors had shown a preference for hot meals that cost less to prepare.
MAS said the light meal boxes served on short-haul sectors had also found a huge degree of acceptance among passengers and such boxed meals enable the airline to increase in-flight service efficiency, improve aircraft turnaround time and reduce overall in-flight costs.
“Sale of air tickets via the Internet plays a critical role in realising FSVC,'' MAS said, adding that together with the MAS Passenger Services System, operating costs would be substantially reduced.
MAS also said the concepts exposed in turning the airline into an FSVC had been successfully implemented in other international airlines.
MAS said Ireland's Aer Lingus had managed to dramatically cut costs by focusing on Internet sales, eliminating the business class and free food on short-haul flights and focusing on productivity to compete with low-cost carriers.
“Air Canada has been very vocal about how its model, focused on low costs and significant sources of protected revenue, delivers superior profit,'' MAS said.
The third example used by MAS was Chile's LAN, a regional airline that increased short-haul aircraft utilisation and the percentage of direct flights to nearly double its operating margin.
“MAS has the advantage of being in a better starting position than any of these carriers,'' the carrier said in its plan.
If MAS successfully transforms itself, it is projecting a net profit of between RM1.5bil to RM3bil by 2012
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My heart just sank after reading this
(although I still hope I am jumping the gun).Looks like sandwic is here to stay and long haul hot meal will receive makeover. For worse or better, is your guess.
To be benchmarked against and emulating " three international airlines" : Aer Lingus! LAN Chile! Air Canada!!!
Izanee, your prediction about MH transforming itself into Aer Lingus is spot on. You can get your brickbats ready, I'll just whimper away in resignation to the cold fact that MH will never relive its glory days.
My resolution NOT to fly any MH international route this year has been successful so far, and stronger than ever!
There will certainly be wrong moves in the process of business transformation. No plan is perfect. Somewhere something will be compromised. Even the admired one lost a widebody and a narrowbody in the last 10 years. There is only so many people the plan can appease. And after the major changes have borne fruit, I'm very sure the little big things will be attended to.
Until such time, exercise your choice, and if eventually that is the choice of the majority, it will affect the bottom line, which will speak the loudest, and MH will have no choice but to revert to what the market wants, be it snekboks or sanwic.
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Much have been said here about how MH only made its turnaround on a bailout and sale of assets. In due time (sooner than you think) the actual story regarding this will be made known.By the way, for what's its worth, MH managed to maintain its 5 star status by the skin of its teeth today. More will be revealed soon, together with the BTP, but I'll let the newspapers be the carrier of that piece. Then I'll wait for expert opinion to peel it layer by layer by the 'usual suspects' here.
Sorry, posted this here;
Ok. Let's talk Financial health first. Finance is important because without money the Airline will plainly cease to exist, even with the newest aircraft and the best meals on board.
Very Simplified. ( My highest acedemic qualification is Grade 1 MCE )
2005 - Lost 1.3 Billion. ( Jan to Sep) At this rate MH would have RM0 cash by April 2006. Bailout would have been necessary at that stage to continue business. BTP1 was announced in Feb 2006 focusing on Financial Survival for 2006, Profit Generation 2007 and Sustainable Growth for 2008 and beyond.
2006 - Lost 136 million ( Oct to Sep)
However the Airline Experts here has said very clearly that the profits came from sale of assets and bailout funds.
Not entirely correct. ( Diplomacy at work)
1. There was no bailout, so concerned taxpayers need not worry.
2. Sale of Assets contributed RM375 million. This helped offset the one-off loss allocation ( OCT - DEC period ) of RM320million. The rest of the money that reduced the bleeding was from ;
a. Revenue/Yield Improvements
Yield 28% improvement from 20.5sen/RPK for 2005 to 26.3sen/RPK YTD 2007. Results; RM973 million for 2006, RM 1 Billion for 2007. One off gains from Asset sale not included.
b. Network Improvements.
This involves the cutting of unprofitable routes/ adding capacity to profitable ones, as well as the much criticized Hub and Spoke strategy.
c. Productivity Improvements
Manpower reduction by 15%
d. Cost reduction
RM665million through manpower productivity, inflight spending rationalisation, fuel efficiency, corporate sponsorship moritorium and other initiatives.
2007 - Made 610 million. ( target for 2007 - 50 million )
2008- later la.....
This is the MH Financial Blood trail;
In Million of Ringgits;
86/87 RM112
87/88 RM151
88/89 RM154
89/90 RM222
90/91 RM288
91/92 RM111
92/93 RM144
93/94 RM7
94/95 RM261
95/96 RM233
96/97 RM319
97/98 RM260 Loss
98/99 RM700 Loss
99/00 RM259 Loss
00/01 RM417 Loss
01/02 RM836 Loss
02/03 RM337
03/04 RM461
04/05 RM326
Dec05 RM1.7 Billion Annualised Loss
Dec06 RM136 Loss
YTD 07 RM 610 for 9 months.
New Aircraft
Of great interest here is the plans for new aircraft. A 5 year plan has been designed and details will be revealed soon.
Definitely there will be ;
Fleet size growth
Rationalised aircraft variety
Density increase in EY for seat cost reduction.
Fuel Efficien and more agile a/c type for Domestic ops
To own rather than lease core fleet for easier path to upgrade/sell/purchase
Tighten up a/c rollover transition
Upgrade of interior in the short term.
Order placement will be probably mid 2008.
Tis is a very very simple outline for now.
Is the time right for Smarter Management to replace the current Dinosaurs ( Dumbosaurus, Idioticaurus, Stupidoractyle etc...) so MH can be in better hands?
Let the Brickbats/Criticism/Cynicism/Pessimism flow freely......
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Something to ponder upon.. hmm. Pilots are humans after all.Just curious.. if a cadet pilot under training is found to be claustrophobic, do they get transferred.. or do they have courses et al to help ease / cure it before they can get into the cockpit?
At Cadet stage, if a person shows signs of incompatibility to the job, its easier to just dump the person than to spend money and carry a potential defect, which may resurface later. After all, there are many more candidates to take over his place. Flying is about capability not charity.
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Hmmmmmm.
There's a syllabus that trains the Cabin Crew on how to deal with a 'Disruptive Pax'. Now there may have to be a section on what to do if the 'Disruptive Pax' is actually a Pilot..........
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Trust Nik to be as diplomatic as ever. :)Btw now that the dust has somewhat settled, how's the take-up of your Kayu Nasi Kandar offer on 1/2? I'm off to Kelantan tomorrow noon, back Sunday, on some personal errands, so I won't turn up. Anyway wishing all attendees an interesting evening - can put the timely BTP on the agenda too.
Good one, my fren. 
So far no one, not one gave any indication if they will be there.
I will be there irregardless. Its my Smartcar hangout anyway.
And usually Friday nite at Aman Suria is a meeting point for many Car groupies... the Supra Gang, the Fairlady Group, the Italian Car Fans, the Bimmer Boys, RX8 Owners, Skyliners, Scoobies and Evos, and many more motorheads.
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Not if the Caravan's being used as a dirty bomb. A nuclear/chemical device exploding at 10,000ft will definitely make the headlines, regardless of the location.KL may not be within the blast radius but will feel the aftermath as the contaminated air starts drifting north.
I think I've watch too many hollywood movies.
You're right about the Hollywood bit.
If any terrorist manages to secure a dirtybomb, they will not waste it on Malaysia, a non-threatening harmless country, so we should not flatter ourselves. Plenty other more attractive targets around the World.
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I haven't got the geographic facts handy, but would the Caravan's postulated 5 minutes / 20 nautical miles flight within Singaporean airspace approaching from north have allowed it to reach almost anywhere within the nation ? Certainly over some populated areas, where I can only assume gunning it out of the sky is not an option - not if it can be helped anywayPerhaps this could possibly be a factor in differing approaches to deal with 'potential threat' by our TUDM and the RSAF ?
A hostile act with the caravan needs to achieve maximum impact and any 'terrorist' worth his salt would have chosen a target that is important to deliver its mesage, ie Putrajaya, Twin Towers, Parliament House and the like. 20NM from Singapore would mean it'll be able to hit JB or Desaru, important, but hardly senstional in the grand scheme of things.
Singapore, being smaller in land area than even Taman Negara, could be right to do the intercept. A caravan at 10,000ft over Singapore can reach almost any point of the island even with its engines shut down. As you inferred correctly, threat assessment is different and potential threat may be treated differently by RSAF and RMAF, chiefly due to the size of the country.
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Much have been said here about how MH only made its turnaround on a bailout and sale of assets. In due time (sooner than you think) the actual story regarding this will be made known.
By the way, for what's its worth, MH managed to maintain its 5 star status by the skin of its teeth today. More will be revealed soon, together with the BTP, but I'll let the newspapers be the carrier of that piece. Then I'll wait for expert opinion to peel it layer by layer by the 'usual suspects' here.
Sorry, posted this here;
http://www.malaysianwings.com/forum/index....ic=7791&hl=
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Much have been said here about how MH only made its turnaround on a bailout and sale of assets. In due time (sooner than you think) the actual story regarding this will be made known.By the way, for what's its worth, MH managed to maintain its 5 star status by the skin of its teeth today. More will be revealed soon, together with the BTP, but I'll let the newspapers be the carrier of that piece. Then I'll wait for expert opinion to peel it layer by layer by the 'usual suspects' here.
Should have posted this here;
http://www.malaysianwings.com/forum/index....ic=7795&hl=
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Much have been said here about how MH only made its turnaround on a bailout and sale of assets. In due time (sooner than you think) the actual story regarding this will be made known.
By the way, for what's its worth, MH managed to maintain its 5 star status by the skin of its teeth today. More will be revealed soon, together with the BTP, but I'll let the newspapers be the carrier of that piece. Then I'll wait for expert opinion to peel it layer by layer by the 'usual suspects' here.
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It has been reported that Thai ATC couldn't contact the Caravan and since it was leaving for Malaysian airspace, the Thais contacted the Malaysian ATC. The main reason why the jets were scrambled was because the pilots were uncontactable. We presume the radio was down. Hence, the need to scramble and have a look, see up there. Thankfully, the pilots complied with whatever instructions they were given, probably through hand signals or deliberate manouvering of the aircraft and the Caravan was escorted to WSSS peacefully.What bugs me is that the Malaysian Transport Minister said that the Caravan was no threat. In this day and age, you'll never know when distarous things will strike. The plane could be carrying something sinister and though it was travelling in the relatively empty east coast, it could just make a turn to the west at short notice.
RMAF Radar would pick it up the moment it enters Malaysian Airspace. It would have probably overfly the vicinity of Gong Kedak and Kuantan.
At best the Caravan can fly at 170 - 200 knots. That's 3 nautical miles a minute. It will probably be cruising at 8-10,000ft, as it is unpressurised. The RMAF can scramble a MIG/Sukhoi/F18 and do an intercept within 5 minutes of any short notice West turn. which means the Caravan would be intercepted after covering just 20 nautical miles on its changed heading. It will not even get past Temerloh.
Missiles would not even need to be deployed to blow it out of the sky, just a couple of rounds from a machine gun will do. So i don't think it'd be much of an issue there. I think the RMAF's got its base covered in this case.
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Great Shots...... especially of the DC3. And thanks for the shot of the Duke with the Raisbeck conversion, indeed a rare bird. Then there's the Cessna Cutlass RG, a retractable version of the C172, another rare machine. No Tomahawk in Jandakot?
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And no 'muhammad' or 'ahmad' or 'abdul' or ... in your name. I'm blessed with a 'muhammad' so the americans normally would like to know me better. But the blokes in the 'secondary interview' rooms were a professional and decent lot.
I have 'Ahmad' in my passport but I had no issue with getting a Visa at the US Embassy in KUL. None in my brothers' family had any problems. Neither did any of us had any problem throughout our stay in the US.
Back to topic; The Caravan, upon entering Malaysian Airspace would have been in contact with Malaysian ATC. It may be flying VFR and hence, permitted to file an airborne flight plan. So to imply that our local people and authorities were unaware may not be entirely inaccurate.
You kinda need to be flying around i the front seat of an aeroplane, preferably both local and international, in VFR and IFR airspace to understand the situation better.
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We might never know that RMAF fighters, especially MiG29N from KUA could have trailed the Cessna from a distance but purposely not intercept it.In the end, it was the RSAF F16 that got into the news.
If RMAF wanted to intercept the Caravan, Hawks would be more than enough. Anything more would be 'overkill'.
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SAEGA AirThere is another, a one plane operation (Do228) operating from BKI, which name escapes me for now
They actually had a Dash 8 in MYY for a few months.
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I think there's more to it than just flying to US out of SZB. Perhaps we may not see any MDs anymore...but what do i know about the industry
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Horrible! Terrible! & Vegetable!
I used to call Airbus 330 the Scarebus 330. Now I call my Triple 7 the Cripple 7. He he.
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hahaha...Capt Nik. I wish I could go there. I really need a good nasi kandar! Might be coming home in May or June so I will give you a shout.Please do that and I'll share with you things that can only be shred on a face to face basis.
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Surely you jest, my learned fren. This is a fallacy. Surely you don't like ppl to insult your mom here, for example?What? Still no takers, after all the brouhaha? Maybe your slice lob was too much, but hey Federer is out. Tsonga is the rage now, tho' I'd prefer to watch the Maria/Ana show today - see this THREAD.
OK, direction to Nasi Kandar Aman Suria.
Dr Naim, thanks for the map.
Here's a pix of a typical Friday night TT at Kayu Aman Suria. The SmartCars belongs to the SmartCarMalaysia website forummers ( I'm a mod for the site) and we meet every Friday there. This particular night however I rode my bike.
I'll be happy host a TT there for MW ' Friends of MAS' . It will be an opportunity to match the personalities to the posts. Who knows, given all the big talk about how to correct MH woes, this may be a start of BIG changes for our BELOVED National Airline that has been 'run to the ground by the current management'.
But for that to happen, you MUST first turn up. I'm sure I'll learn something from you. At the very least, I'll definitely learn something about you. Maybe you'll also learn there is actually a lot more to life than just MH bashing.
So Friday Feb 1st next week then. I''ll be there. And I'm easy to spot.
Aman Suria Friday Nights.....
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Its a realistic view I'm stating after almost 30 years here. And don' confuse a realistic observation as a personal conviction.Still no one for a face to face? TT will be on me. I've got a good venue...kayu Nasi Kandar Aman Suria PJ next Friday after 9pm.Oh dear I sincerely hope that at the personal level (at least), you do not fully subscribe to that notion -
I think had local ATC suspected something fishy was going on, they would have responded just as swiftly. Our military intelligence unit is not something to be looked down. If there is a need, they can... and will deliver
Very True. Since the Caravan is flying over the East Coast, the only threat will be if the plane flies into some wooden fishing huts or into the Tioman resort.
Our military does not get unduly excited over things like this. Do recall, even with the best technology, highly trained and motivated crew, being trigger happy has caused the death of civilians.
The Israelis shooting a Civilian B707 near Port Said was one.
Then the Mighty US downing an Iranian A300 over the Straits of Hormuz. Both killed everyone on board. Post shooting responses ...ooooops sorry.
The RMAF has just saved some taxpayers money. I wonder what kind of posts will be posted here if the RMAF threw a couple of Sukhois to chase the Cessna of force land it.
Its nice to be a Malaysian when travelling, being a simple non threatening country we are always welcome everywhere.
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Like proton, mas management believe they know the business best, the company is invincible and customers will accept whatever they dish out. If customers don’t like what mas is offering, there are choices out there AK, SQ, EK, CX, TG, etc.
MH is invincible, I agree. Being the National Airline, it cannot and must not fail irregardless of who leads it.
The Management is not. They CAN be booted out quite easily. The Airline and the Management is not quite the same thing. If the current Management is booted out, and new Management steps in, MH will still run. Whether better or worse I can't say.
So its prudent to arrange the words properly when criticising because as posted by Dr Naim, there is indeed a fine line between constructive criticism and plain bashing.
In this and any forum, everyone gets an equal chance to post, and grand schemes can come from a 17 year old (whose only income comes from parents and has yet to pay a single cent of tax) about Airline Management to professionals like Engineers and Doctors. Its surprising how alike the suggestions can be.
Anyway, about my offer;
a. Head of Charter Job : ZERO application with 6 days to go.
b. Teh Tarik MH Bashing/Constructive Criticism Session : Only Izanee so far although with him being in UK I see that happening only when he comes back.
Teh Tarik can be fixed on the following days
a. Wednesdays - coincide with my weekly TT sesion with my Superbike friends
b. Fridays - coincide with my weekly Two Seater Car Buddies.
Both venues PJ.
Still waiting.
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Interesting Capt. Nik. I recall a journalist asking the then PM DrM on when will Malaysia start to control its own airspace. He replied that Malaysia will continue to allow Singapore to do it as Singapore actually pays $$ to Malaysia for doing it. I was 'blur' about that statement but left it as it was. Perhaps a legacy of colonial rule when everything was controlled from SG?Any abridged version that you can share Capt Nik?
Politically correct answer not worth the time.
True story will piss off some people.
This is after all an enthusiasts' site, not a site out to prove a point nor make a statement. About the statement, I too am BLUR....
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Thanks Capt. Radzi, LeeCH. What a wide area to track indeed......almost like controlling the entire upper part of South East Asia.True. To fly from Malaysia to Malaysia ( East to West VV) a Malaysia aircraft goes under Singapore Control as soon as its between Pekan to near Sabah or Sarawak. Singapore controls the entire bit of lower South China Sea and can see all the bits in the region that they don't control.
An aircraft flying over the South China Sea between East and West Malaysia from Manila to Jogjakarta need not talk to Malaysia but has to talk to Singapore.
How come....? Long story.
New Business Transformation Plan
in General Aviation
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Maybe I'm naive as I have limited understanding of all these rights issues and redeemable shares etc etc. My dealings are straightforward cash transactions with pricing based on cost and market price.
While a small number of posts here are downright silly, and some do have good argument, but what is consistent is that the posts are always accompanied by spattering of insults, which are direct in nature, and a good chance this style will never be delivered on a face to face basis. Is it really necessary to start of your good argument that way?
Your first sentence already says it all. Then you continued to make assumptions of what I think about the population of the forum.
My posts listed out the MH declared financial outlook easily available to all. Discounting your assumption about my opinion, am I telling a lie? Are my bosses telling a lie to me and the other 16,000 employees of MH? If MH MD knows this, how far down the line do as well? And how does this benefit him and his team when he could easily get a better deal with Shell, his old company? If we remove the asset sale gains and Government travel contracts would the turnaround result in an even bigger loss?
If you are right, how long can this hole be covered? When will this bubble of lies eventually burst?
On the subject of Government travel, are you aware that the biggest bulk, ie the Military movements between East and West was residing with AK over the last 7 years?
Chill man, I'm not your adversary here so you don't have to make assumptions of my opinion on this forum. Come to TT Friday and you'll see for yourself.
ASSUME
Making an ASS of U and ME