There are so many reasons why KLIA doesn’t perform the way it’s supposed to! The principle reason is the evident lack of managerial performance. Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB), Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to a lesser extent are to blame. However, these companies/organisations have troubles of their own. The main problem is the lack of funds and the rising costs plaguing the industry. Nonetheless, this combined with the present quality of management is compounding problems deeper for the aviation industry in Malaysia.
We can’t blame the staff or customers of these two entities; we must lay blame on the management. I know the word ‘blame’ is harsh to use and I am sure that the management teams do try their hardest. Perhaps it’s the management’s lack of experience with the aviation industry, or perhaps it’s more worryingly something that has metamorphosed from the stereotypical Malaysian corporate culture – see big, think big, do little. We are persistently adopting business models from other countries and using them here in Malaysia with some degree of success. Why not fine tune our own Malaysian standards and use these with potentially greater levels of success and profitability. Our corporate ethics, cultural commitments, personal morals are increasingly under the microscope in today’s political climate, and let me tell you, foreigners laugh at us!
The airport is so fittingly characteristic of the way Malaysia portrays itself to the rest of the world, and coincidentally, it’s what all of us here are so passionate about. So I want to give you my opinion, and see what you think. I am susceptible to changing my opinions should you show me another way of looking at things, but here are my views on what the state of affairs is at KLIA.
KLIA – Grand, beautiful, tropical, modern, iconic, underperforming, under-maintained, deteriorating and lacking the finer points of quality. This is what Malaysia presents the world of itself - a contradiction of imagery that perplexes the foreigners that visit our shores and us. We want so much, we dream so high, we do achieve, but only on the surface of things. Below, is filled with politics, lack of commitment and most importantly a lack of managerial quality. We lose our dreams, until we find another bigger and shinier one, and the cycle repeats. KLIA was envisaged as the gateway to Malaysia. It was destined to be the one-stop facility to commerce, trade and recreation. Unfortunately, KLIA has not lived up to its potential as yet, and the situation merely worsens day by day.
Since opening, KLIA has been through some of the worst economic recessionary periods of regional history, the catastrophe of the SARS outbreak and most importantly has felt the ripples of the rise in terrorism and the ensuing outbreak of wars in the Middle East. But it survived, and passenger numbers grew steadily over the years to its best performance last year with 21.5 million passengers. The airport appears to be performing well – on the surface! The performance of KLIA in recent times is due principally to the restructuring of MAS, and the birth of Air Asia – the regions most admired corporate debutant. However, the overall gains are marginal when one considers the overall potential of the airport. Growth has been inhibited due to a general lack of management and foresight.
Let me elaborate upon some of this further. KLIA is the epitome of the Malaysia’s ‘no-maintenance’ culture. Looking around the airport, it is evident that what we have is neglected and left to deteriorate until it is functionless and needs to be replaced. Maintenance of the airport facilities is paramount to the success of the airport.
1. Total Airport Management System (TAMS)
a. This was designed to integrate the numerous airport systems to provide ‘unprecedented levels of service, safety and comfort to the travelling public… to help bring more tourists and business to Malaysia’. This is quoted from MAB in the KLIA overview publication (1998). My point in bringing the TAMS into question is if such a system is installed and presumably operational, why then are certain airport systems inefficient and sometimes out of order. For instance the Baggage Handling System, which has broken down numerous times in the past causing delays and passenger and customer discomfort. TAMS is present to ensure the highest levels of efficiency and maintenance standards are adhered, yet it appears that such is not the case.
2. Airport Roadways and Car park:
a. The roadways that weave around the MTB complex are very poorly maintained, and visually unappealing. Road lines have nearly disappeared and the ornate lamp-poles that line the roads are in need of touch-up. The road barriers are also in need of repair, especially the locations where accidents have obviously occurred, yet the authorities have yet to repair the damage done. The car park B is leaking and this will ultimately lead to structural defects at the entrance to the car park, just at the bottom of the ramp before the chip-coin collection gate. The truncations of cables and piping that line the ceilings of the car park on the basement level are very badly maintained, with corrosion and leaks – if not maintained, the costs will just escalate. There is a car that has been idle in the car park since as long as I can remember and its still there today, with a clamp on the wheel and all. I don’t think the people who own the car are coming back, it’s covered with dust and all the tyres are flat. Shouldn’t it be removed?
3. Airline Offices:
a. The airline offices on the 4th floor of the MTB are another point of concern. The floor in the corridors is in terrible condition, the walls appear to be damp, ceiling panels missing and lights not working. Fire doors between the corridors are in poor condition and some may not even meet regulatory requirements. The airline offices themselves are maintained, but that is the responsibility of the airlines, not MAB. MAB should maintain these corridors for the comfort of passengers and airlines. I would imagine that such would only lead to appreciation to MAB by the various airlines that have offices on that level.
4. Aerobridges and Apron facilities.
a. The Aerobridges are fantastic at KLIA! They are so visually appealing and have great features such as the individual GPU units located on the underside. They are actually quite envied by some of the other airports around the world. But sadly, some don’t work and haven’t for years! Why haven’t they been fixed? The aerobridges themselves are lacking finer maintenance. Sure they are in working order, some barely. There is rust, the carpet inside some of them needs to be replaced, light fixtures missing, and the ceiling panels are loose and dirty. A real shame is that the air conditioning in some of the bridges is not in working order. Malaysia is tropical, Europeans and Malaysians alike don’t want to walk out of the plane and immediately break into sweat. The cameras that guide the ramp crew on some of the aerobridges don’t even work. The aerobridges have also been known to quit working sometimes, leaving passengers waiting in the aircraft for up to an hour. These incidents are surely avoidable.
b. The amenities available for ramp staff and apron crews such as the food court and rest area in the MTB (across from AK engineering store-room) and near A6/A8 and B6/B8 are in very poor condition. MAS and MAB should ensure that these facilities are well-maintained to improve moral of employees and should discipline those that abuse such facilities. The floor in the staff lounge near A6/A8 has recently had to be replaced.
c. The apron roadway lighting and corridor from the MTB to the Cargo complex running parallel with the aerotrain is very badly maintained. The retention walls look 100s of years old with paint pealing and the lights very badly maintained with some even missing or broken. These are all visible from the Aerotrain. Is this the image we want to present?
d. There are locations around the apron where curbs have been damaged by heavy vehicles. For months, all that remains is the rubble of the road and curb. Prevent this from happening. Install rubber strips in front of the curbs to prevent curb damage and more costly vehicle damage. Leaving the rubble presents a hazard to airport staff working in the vicinity and should be addressed immediately.
5. Toilets.
a. Need I say more. Let me provide you with an example of my own. On Sunday night (14th August) I was at the arrivals hall waiting for my mother. I needed to use the restroom facilities and upon entering was presented with the cleaner using the wash-hoses to literally hose down the entire cubicle!! Including the toilet. He then proceeded to wash the walls with water and used a rubber broom to ‘sweep’ the water creating a mess all around the toilet cubicles. The sinks were filthy, some even with fossettes missing. The bin was overflowing with rubbish onto the floor and the Automatic hand dryers… well they just weren’t working. This is the same story at most of the toilets around the airport, and I have been led to believe by female family members that the female toilets are in worse condition. I don’t blame the cleaning staff. I blame the airport authorities for inadequately training these staff. Let’s take Changi as an example. I was travelling back to Perth via Singapore on the 16th of August where I had a 3 hour transit. The toilets are immaculate. The staff seem to take some pride in their work! It’s very admirable! The efficiency and utter cleanliness made me wonder why we don’t achieve this or better at KLIA. This is after all our principle competitor.
6. Departure Gate lounges and Duty Free shopping:
a. The departure gate lounges are comfortable for now. But the chairs are being damaged by inconsiderate members of the public. But that’s no excuse for MAB to sit on their laurels and not do anything about it. Fix it before it gets worse and someone writes into the NST or The Star complaining about it. I can imagine how much these public complaints embarrass MAB officials – Don’t let it lead to that, be ahead! The gate entertainment of TV3 is whilst Malaysian, quite dull and boring. To further worsen things, the reception isn’t all that fantastic either. CNN? BBC? CNBC? ESPN?
b. Duty Free shopping. The new shops in the centre of the Satellite wings look nice. Expensive but nice. They are expensive because the rental is so high! They can’t maintain their shops because their margins are so low! MAB, help them out and give them a break! You’ll improve your non-aeronautical revenue if you help promote it and not constrain it like present. So many retail outlets at the MTB in the Viewing gallery are empty. I have an idea that I will discuss with members of this forum in another post, but how far that goes depends on us. MAB should aggressively be finding ways to improve that!
c. The radio station, Fly.fm (95.8 in the Klang Valley), plays great songs for the youth! It actually is a really great station. But boost it with some advertising revenue? DHL? MAS? AirAsia? Airlines serving KLIA? Retailers at KLIA? Why not MAB boost their retailers business by giving them discounted advertising costs on the radio. Why not MAB broadcast the radio within the airport? I didn’t hear it once inside the terminal! Does anyone here know if they do play it in the airport? What about playing the music on the ramp for the ground crews – break the monotony, BE INNOVATIVE!
7. Cargo Complex:
a. They want KLIA to be a regional cargo hub! MASKargo is growing and so too is transmile. Create some order and efficiency around the cargo complex. It is often confusing and disorganised.
The standard of professionalism at KLIA is one of the biggest thorns in the side of promoting and developing this airport as a regional transportation hub. Staff can be discourteous, uninterested, and just plain unprofessional. Talking on handphones whilst checking in passengers, not acknowledging passengers and customers with a simple smile and hello – these are some flaws in customer service at KLIA. There are many more, but too many to delve into now. One must realise that the secret to success is ensuring the greatest resource of all – human resources – is sufficiently trained and briefed on interpersonal skills and procedures. The various teams of management that supervise these people in their work must sit down and look at where they have failed so that tomorrow they can correct it. The vast majority of staff are courteous and helpful, but it’s the few that aren’t that constantly draw attention and bring down the quality of service available at KLIA.
Why have so many airlines like BA and Qantas left KUL? Because KLIA couldn’t provide the efficiency and standards it promised upon opening in 1998. BA and QF say they have low yields into Malaysia. Maybe so, but they didn’t always neglect KLIA as a potential hub – This is clear from the BA/QF lounge established at KLIA in 1998 and now closed. That investment must have reflected some confidence in KLIA. KLIA let them down, and must improve its reputation if they ever want to see these airlines again. In the meantime, passengers will have to keep booking on MAS to Europe and Australia (two very important markets for KLIA), and when those are full (which they always are), will rather fly SIA, and thus defeat the purpose of KLIA as a hub.
MAB must strive for efficiency before the situation worsens at KLIA. Start addressing the quality of service and amenities available at the airport. You can’t expect a return when you haven’t made the investment in the right areas – that’s a fundamental principle. Boosting non-aeronautical revenue should be at the forefront of MAB’s business strategy. They claim that it is, but we’ve yet to see any fruits from their ‘investments in customer comfort’. The decision making process is too long at MAB. The same goes for MAS – what’s happened with the alliance and the orders for new much needed aircraft to bring relief to its bursting operations? To be profitable, you have to be transparent, and unfortunately MAS and MAB are not sufficiently so. It is possible in Malaysia, and you don’t have to look far. Air Asia is a gleaming model of Malaysian innovation and corporate success. Who would have thought, that a loss-making airline be turned around and now challenge the biggest of guns in the South-East Asian region.
Air Asia is a company that has taken a foreign model and made it uniquely Malaysian. It prides itself on efficiency and quality standards and that’s why it is such an appreciated member of the Malaysian corporate and aviation community. If we remember back to earlier in this rambling of mine, KLIA has achieved record passenger numbers in recent times! The contribution of Air Asia is significant, and continues to be so. It is a company that adapts to its operating conditions given local restrictions and government protection of subsidised companies like MAS and MAB. As a result it has soared, and now is only held back by the impending crude oil crisis.
KLIA is behind Changi and Hong Kong CLK, it’s two major competitors. Bangkok’s new airport opens next month. Will it fall behind that too? I hope not. It’s time for KLIA to rise to the challenge and meet its targets. It can do so with collaboration, NOT HELP, from the Malaysian Government, MAS, Tourism Malaysia and Air Asia.
Let’s not underestimate the role of forums like MalaysianWings.com. We are the ones who are passionate about this industry, and want to see it succeed. Some of use are making career decisions that will bring us into the Malaysian aviation scene. We want it to succeed and let’s face it, those of us here have the potential to make it so! I’ve met with some of the people on this forum and the dedication is so sincere and admirable. The success of KLIA can be a lesson to the rest of Malaysia. But in my eyes, the success of KLIA is the perfect example for Malaysia. In order to land at our place amongst the developed nations of this world, we must first take-off.
