KK Lee
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Posts posted by KK Lee
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On 11/1/2019 at 6:38 PM, jahur said:Single engine turboprop Does not work in this region. Look at susi air. For it to work the weather in borneo should be good all year round.
Unless gomen is willing to subsidize forever, RAS could either terminated or need to change to reduce losses. Believe commuters understand and would accept re-schedule due to weather.
On 11/1/2019 at 9:57 PM, JuliusWong said:Don't think there is any viable land transport for interior part of Sabah and Sarawak. travelling by boat or long boat is time consuming too. Air travel is essential, no matter how we perceive it.
There are reasons to keep fixed deposits isolated.
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For maswings to stop losing money, the gomen should replace atr-72 with smaller aircraft, ras to operate by single engine single pilot turboprop.
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5 hours ago, flee said:Government, Mavcom look headed on a collision course
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/government-mavcom-look-headed-collision-course
The fewer and smaller gomen agencies the better for taxpayers.
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On 10/29/2019 at 4:47 PM, jahur said:Typical msia, ask for replacement, board/management keeps bitching no budget asking for more cost cutting. When things broke down lower end staffs get grilled. Cycle repeats.
On 10/29/2019 at 4:52 PM, flee said:Well it is a typical GLC environment - nobody is responsible for anything. Tidak apa attitude is the order of the day. So, if Board or Management turns down project proposal, they just accept that and close the book. Wait for the equipment to fail....
Few if any vvip would notice ict or back office upgrade, hence budget is almost always not available. However, if the project could rise the management profile or please some vvip, for certain budget is available.
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On 10/29/2019 at 8:37 AM, Pall said:I don't see where you are going here, MH loads are fair to in comparison with industry standards. In fact the main chunk of morning departures are between the 9am-11am band. The departure congestion speaks for itself and its not only out of KUL that we are talking about, its the same in SIN, BKK and the other major hubs nearby (morning wave so to speak).
At current state of fleet number vs frequency, it seems MH B737s utilisation is stretched to the limit. Noticed its quite common to see their A330s to sub the B737s on BKK, SIN, CGK, and some domestic runs lately.
The issue in MH all boils down to yield. If you want to say MH is not exploring new route options, well at least we are seeing SUB frequency have been increased, PKU and SOC back on their network.
Rule of the game here is yields and MH is not the only airline struggling in that arena.
On 10/29/2019 at 7:04 AM, Mohd Suhaimi Fariz said:Yields are poor for these passengers.
If the yields are so great, they'd done it already.
The facts remain MH is losing a few hundred millions RM every year in this few years and there is no end in sight.
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On 10/27/2019 at 3:47 PM, kandiah k said:Ihttps://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/10/533593/qatar-airways-jal-among-suitors-malaysia-airlines
Qatar Airways, JAL among suitors for Malaysia Airlines
To turn around MH need to re-fleet and re-fleet take about 3 years, and who is going to bare the losses of about RM 3bn for this interim 3 years?
On 10/25/2019 at 6:09 PM, jahur said:Wonder if consolidating garuda and thai with mab would help. But then the other two also have corruption issues for decades. We havent even gotten into Lion air. This airline sabotage Airasias expansion and is flying their planes with limited frequencies at a loss. Its been also rumored the ceo of lion air has been using a lot of black money to get permits around. Free market or not it doesnt look fair to smaller companies.
If ceo of lion air is involve in black money, boeing and u.s banks wouldn't have deal with him.
On 10/25/2019 at 2:03 PM, Craig said:Many many moons ago, a LHR-KUL-SYD/MEL ticket cost almost the same as a LHR-KUL ticket with free stopovers in KUL. So my plan was always to buy a ticket to Australia with 2 stopovers in KL.
I am not aware that Malaysia does not have enough cheap foreign workers, do you?
So these regional flights you are speaking of, to connect to MH 09:00 bank, they need to depart before 06:00 to get in around 07:00 (or even earlier since Malaysia is GMT +8 whilst most neighbors are GMT +7), yes? Which business traveler don't value time for a regional flight that they'll take an even earlier morning flight with a connection? Not many business pax is going to fly SIN-KUL-BKK or BKK-KUL-CGK. And in case you are wondering, MH does have early morning departures from SIN, BKK, CGK, MNL, HKG (the major business cities around the region I'd say) and you can guess why they have a RON aircraft at those stations even at HKG/SIN with exorbitant parking fees and not others (e.g. SGN, PNH etc.).
MH need not limit to BKK, SIN and CGK alone, KNO, HKT, HDY, BTJ, PKU, BWN, KBV, etc are source of pax. If MAHB is efficiency, these regional could arrive KUL just before 8am. However, if market dictate, MH could shift bank of departure to 1000 hour for a more friendly departure time. LH, KL, BA have their layover regional to arrive FRA, AMS and LHR at about 0900 hour.
MH like many Malaysians tend to place the cart in front of the horse. If the route is financially feasible, extra cost on layover, parking fees would be taken care of. A reason why FSC like LH, KL, BA and AF are still surviving.
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11 hours ago, Craig said:So your suggestion is to lower the foreign worker fees/levy to import cheap labourers from say South Asian or Vietnam/China to Malaysia and then companies who want cheap labour invest in Malaysia by hiring those non-Malaysian cheap labour?
And what makes you think MH is not attracting business travelers from other countries? I mean MH don't just sell SIN-MY from Singapore you know 😉
Most countries need cheap foreign workers to keep the economy buzzing e.g US, UK, Germany, Saudi, Dubai, SG, etc.
If MH intend to attract business travelers from neighbouring countries, they should have layover within 2 hours flight time from KUL, so these pax could connect to MH 9am bank of regional flights.
10 hours ago, Chris Tan said:I’m quite glad the people in power don’t advocate for lower wages in their pursuit of raising the average income.
One of those “reasons” which were not elaborated on in your post can be found just two posts up. Many leisure travellers aren’t willing to pony up for the convenience of a direct flight. You want convenience, you pay for it. Clearly MH knows they can get away with charging higher prices for ex-KUL, the same way SQ/CX charge exorbitant prices out of SIN/HKG.
I don’t see how MH is in a different position compared to other airlines here. Direct flights are convenient, and convenience doesn’t come cheap. It’s a worldwide trend that MH would be foolish to buck. If they’re going to have any hope of getting half-decent yields (which many here have been advocating for), slashing prices to please a price-sensitive bunch probably isn’t the best strategy, is it?
Some might praise CX/KA for being so affordable out of KUL but conveniently forget the reason behind CX’s withdrawal from KUL. And it seems like they’re also blithely unaware of how insane CX’s pricing is out of HKG. Because CX can, just like how MH can rightfully command a premium out of KUL.
The main issue with local workforce is poor productivity and unwilling to learn new skill.
Believe there are enough business travellers ex-KUL to keep MH profitable. Unfortunately, MH has yet to understand their needs and how to keep them happy.
2 hours ago, Mohd Suhaimi Fariz said:You have proven exactly why MH has a problem - Malaysian passengers who value price over convenience.
Fact of the matter is, O&D passenger pays more everywhere. A SIN originating SQ passenger will pay more than a KUL originating pax. A BKK originating TG pax pays more than a KUL originating pax. And conversely, a SIN originating MH pax pays less than a KUL originating pax. Who in their right mind would want to fly via transit, over direct flights if pricing remains constant?
If MH lowers the price, their yields will be crap. And when yields are crap, you can't make any money.
Not in Malaysia they don't.
Airlines business is like hospitality business. Low season is more critical than peak season. Everyone could make a killing during peak season. But whether the business could be profitable for the WHOLE year depends on low season performance. It seems MH management is still don't realize and don't have solution.
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3 hours ago, Craig said:I am glad you brought this up. Hot off the press today from the World Bank. Malaysia is ranked as the 12th easiest country to do business (2nd in ASEAN after SG, ranked second worldwide). Thailand is 21 and Vietnam is 70. Ever wonder why they moved to Vietnam instead of Malaysia? Hint: cheap labour
I think you are the pax MAB identified as the problem 😃. You are not willing to pay more for a nonstop (most nonstop flights are way more expensive than a connection). You should see how much SQ and CX charges in their home market. You should see how much MH charges for business class ex-SG/TH, most of the time way cheaper than ex-MY.
I think MH serve most business cities with a decent schedule and most of the time, at a higher frequency than foreign carriers, catered for ex-KUL market. Look at schedule for HKG, BKK, SGN, TPE, SYD, TYO, PVG.
Are you sure that's the case? MH 318/319 has 2.5 hours turnaround time. They could have left PKX at 08:00 if they really want an hour turnaround.
Malaysia could have cheaper labour if foreign worker permit and levy is cheaper. Malaysia is also one of the few countries that need AP for many import items. Btw, labour market in Vietnam is tight and some manufacturers find it difficult to recruit enough workers.
For reasons, for marginal fare difference, why many pax prefer to take transit or longer flight than MH non stop service.
2 hours ago, Craig said:Malaysia is not a huge business destination to begin with and IIRC, MH was commenting that their 350 do not have enough J seats for their current 350 destinations (LHR, TYO, KIX). Amongst other destinations that I know it's hard for me to find Z class: AKL, SYD, MEL, and the occasional TPE/PVG. MH714/715 to DPS is also surprisingly hard to find J seats.
As said, MH shouldn't and need not limit itself to home market alone. There is nothing to stop MH to attract business travelers from other countries where they are flying to.
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2 hours ago, Craig said:I still do not see how it is MAVCOM's responsibility to make MAHB clear the duty free for immigration (I am aware it's a problem whether in T1/T2, but I don't know if MAVCOM is the right agency for it). I understand MAVCOM is to protect the consumer but how are the consumer rights affected from long immigration queues. It happens everywhere (even in uber efficient SIN, my family member waited over an hour to clear immigration there). I've seen queues at SFO/JFK recently where it's backed up all the way to the gates and let's not even talk about BKK /LHR- if it's bad, it can take 1-2 hours. If you arrived last in an arrival bank, then you are a SOL.
It doesn't mean KUL shouldn't, need not or couldn't be improved or better.
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9 minutes ago, jahur said:If you were to check how much financial aid and stimulation gulf carriers receive from their respective government to keep prices low and products fresh you'd be shocked. And these carriers always boast about free market opensky is good.
If they were to operate this way it means further deterioration in product comfort and services. Were a country that shits out on quantity over quality. Those that aim for quality are too little to sustain businesses and many of them have already hopped to other airlines. Even D7 Cant keep up. Ak has the gut to put out 28inch seat with the stupid spaceflex sjw cabin. It wont be long for Mab to follow the cattle run.
How our airlines perform totally reflects on how well the country's tourism and business sector is.
MH had billions RM of handout too over many years but couldn't sustain.
There is no doubt, most malaysians disposable income is relatively poor and trained to be thrifty and would choose price over quality or quantity e.g prefer $9.9/800g rather than $11/kg.
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On 10/22/2019 at 10:35 PM, jahur said:Thai Airways at risk of Closure.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1777704/thai-airways-at-risk-of-closure-president-says
Like MH, TG has too much political interference. However, TG has a wider network and revenue, could sustain abuse a bit longer.
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5 minutes ago, flee said:I am a sample of one but if many others had the same experience as me, then it is bad news for MAB:
In March this year, I went to Tokyo - I booked my ticket about one month before travelling. I had checked ticket prices for about a month before I booked. It was interesting to find out that the MH ticket price was about RM 350 more than 1 stop SQ and RM 1K more than 1 stop CX flights. I also noted that Airasia X fares were almost as expensive as ANA's! Needless to say, MH did not get my booking even though it was deploying the A380 on that route at that time. I booked on CX because it was cheaper and it allowed me to fly in to HND and leave from NRT.
As for business class pax, it is not that there are fewer of them in Malaysia. Many business travellers choose other airlines because of a number of factors that are important to them. Flight timing and frequency is probably their No 1 priority. Then comes connections - many business travellers don't just buy return flights, they do multi sector flying. Then comes the hard and soft products and consistency of service. So there are many requirements of business travellers that MAB failed to appreciate - so they don't get their business.
Bottom line is that MH needs to compete better and sell more tickets even though the yields are not good - it is always cash positive to sell tickets and fill seats. Flying a plane on 50-60% load is not good for business.
MH365 PKX-KUL is a good example; MAB rather put the cart (i.e saving on parking charges and may be crews layover) ahead of horse (pax convenience).
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20 minutes ago, jahur said:Premium passengers foreign businessmen are non existent in Malaysia. Decades ago i can still find them in sabah walking directly to the airport counter purchasing last min first class tickets all the way to london and didnt bug about on pricing. Now i dont even see a single of them its all prcs and korean leisures. The country itself aint doing well at the moment with the amount of fdi leaking. The current local businessmen we have will nitpick the lowest priced tickets some dont even mind driving on the road.
Not helping we have a leader that gives inconsistent statement and opinions that deters investors away. Starting up fresh new full service airline wont help if the government does not settle foreign investors confidence.
Due to US China trade war, many MNC have moved out from China and only few came to Malaysia because of unfriendly business environment if compared with Vietnam and Thailand. Many of these rules and regulations are legacy. Unfortunately, after the blunder of abolishing GST, current administration is hesitate to make more drastic change or cut red tapes.
Believe J class on EK and QR are popular and often fully booked.
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Understand it is fairly common for foreign passport holders to queue for an hour or more to clear immigration at KUL T1 and T2. Believe this issue is not new and some how MAHB is ignoring the issue for reasons.
If one look at floor plan, MAHB could double T2 inbound immigration area. Of course, it will need extensive moving, renovation and reduce arrival duty free floor area. As for T1, there is void between MTB and CP that could be built to accommodate extension.
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1 minute ago, flee said:Khazanah: Too many airlines based here bad for Malaysia Airlines, weaker ones need to quit
Too few local biz class flyers to keep Malaysia Airlines airborne, Khazanah concludes
Airlines business is not limited to domestic; supposed to ferry pax across its network. MAB should look into how to expand sustainable network.
During many BTP, MAB milked biz class to the max as if biz class pax didn't have a choice. For reasons, many mnc and even glc executives don't choose MAB as first choice. It will needs years of consistent offering to attract these biz class pax but MAB is not known to be consistent.
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22 hours ago, JuliusWong said:Public Accounts Committee has released a report on Khazanah Nasional Berhad’s investments at Dewan Rakyat today.
Some of the highlights are:
- RM1 billion a year in extra capital needed each year just to sustain MAS operations if there is industry consolidation/review. Open Sky Policy partly attributed to MAS's failure to turnaround.
- MAS's loss in FY18 was over RM1 billion.
1 billion in extra capital required to sustain MAB operation. Good Lord! Where are the issues?
There are always reasons and excuses for MAB losses but never management or BOD (current or past) responsibility or fault. Until the management and BOD admit their mistake and fault, same issues would re-occur again and again.
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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): Malaysia Airlines Bhd's restructuring has not been smooth and the corporate exercise failed to achieve its intended target as the loss-making company contended with the local aviation industry's overcapacity, Khazanah Nasional Bhd said.
Malaysia sovereign wealth fund Khazanah via Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) owns 100% of Malaysia Airlines.
The Public Accounts Committee's report today quoted Khazanah managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan as saying Malaysia Airlines continued to report losses due to problems in the Malaysian and global aviation sector.
"The (Malaysian aviation) industry is experiencing overcapacity involving four airlines namely Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, AirAsia X and Malindo for a 30 million-people market, which translates into about 1.7 seats for one passenger.
"Malaysia Airlines was supposed to break even in 2018 and start reporting profit in 2019. However, Malaysia Airlines registered billions of ringgit in losses which resulted in the company's fair value not being able to support (justify) its investment cost," Shahril said.
Not unexpected.
If use seats/population ratio, DXB, DOH, SIN are much higher. Can't understand the rational to use this yardstick.
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The rattle of a flight attendant’s service cart sparks a nostalgic joy in me. No matter how many times I fly, I perk up when those trolleys come rumbling down the aisle, maiming any appendages brazenly stretched beyond arm rests. What, pray tell, will the flight attendant hand me this time? A Stroopwafel? A rectangle of lasagna?
Sometimes food on a plane sets the tone for your trip, like a baguette and wine on Air France or an ube pastry on Philippine Airlines. Sometimes food on a plane absolutely fails to do that, like the ambiguous goo an airline served to me as “pasta” on a flight to Chile.
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Airlines have greater opportunity to travel long distances as advances in aviation lead to lighter aircraft that are more aerodynamic and fuel efficient. Other ultra-long-haulers include Singapore Airlines Ltd., which has resumed nonstop flights from its home base to New York, and Qatar Airways, which offers an 18-hour direct trip from Auckland to Doha.
There’s a market for premium, nonstop flights between Sydney and New York, Joyce said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. He said Qantas fills its daily services from Australia’s east coast to Los Angeles, which then go onto New York. The airline also charges a premium for its 17-hour direct connection between Perth and London, and those planes are 95% full, he said.
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On 10/16/2019 at 10:47 PM, flee said:Malaysia Airlines FY18 net loss narrows to RM791.7 million
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/malaysia-airlines-fy18-net-loss-narrows-rm7917-million
Given current management, fleet mix, network, business model, mab is unlikely will become sustainable profitable. To change fleet mix, corporate culture and widen existing network will take a few years, not sure how many could afford or willing to burn a few billions RM to see it turn around.
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On 10/11/2019 at 11:58 AM, Craig said:New schedule:
0040KUL - PKX0700 MH318 333 D
1430KUL - PKX2050 MH364 333 357
0930PKX - KUL1600 MH319 333 D
2155PKX - KUL0425+1 MH365 333 357
Are there really no 1-2 hours later slots left at PKX for MH365? That's quite an ungodly hour arrival into KUL (and also 55 mins turnaround seems tight for A333).
Short turnaround and arriving at ungodly hours, looks like bean counter's opinion supersede commercial requirement.
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Over the last 20+ years showed, no matter how much one like to syok sendiri, jaguh kampung mentality is a failure.Of course not. But I don't see your contribution to making things number one now do you?
That's the problem with a lot of Malaysians today. Too much criticizing, not enough contributing. Too much condemning, not enough commending.
In the current interruption economy and flat world, critical thinking is essential to survival.
Believe most if not all forumers here are patriotic and wanted to see the success of country aviation industry. Not that forumers not contributing but labeled as criticizing, condemnation and what not.
Not that proven, feasible and sustainable business model is not available but jaguh kampung choose to reinvent the wheel in different shapes. What more can we say?
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So the numbers of built up but undeliverable 737 Max's continue to mount
Very interested to understand legalities of process - are the customers obligated already to accept deliveries of completed airframes and hence who is responsible for the storage costs of all these very expensive but currently unproductive pieces of equipment ?
Down the road, when all these 737 Max's are eventually cleared safe to fly (assumption within notwithstanding) can we then expect a sudden big spike in available capacity in the overall airlines' inventory thereof ?
With (presumably) subsequent depression of yields ?
Possibly to nudge one or more of the borderline cases now over the edge into oblivion ..... ?
Believe aircraft manufacturer is paid on progress of work. Hence, Boeing could keep producing. For delay in delivery, boeing is likely need to pay limited compensation to airlines.
When 737 max is back to service mean many older aircrafts will go to storage.
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You can argue all you like till the cows come home but the fact is if you stay one night, you're a visitor. Period.
Yes. Have the quantity but not the quality.
MAS Privatisation
in General Aviation
Posted · Edited by KK Lee · Report reply
Cessna 208B for RAS