MAS 09 Summer Capacity Cut

[Cheng Kit 0]

Here are the capacity cuts from MAS this summer

 

Kuala Lumpur - Auckland

Service reduced from 5 (Day x27 from KUL) to 4 weekly (Day x237 from KUL)

 

Kuala Lumpur - Chennai

Planned 737-800 replacing A330 from mid-June has been shelved

 

Kuala Lumpur - Delhi

Planned increase from 7 to 10 weekly, is shelved

 

Kuala Lumpur - Frankfurt

Reducing from 5 weekly (Day x13) to 4 weekly on selected periods, cancelled dates is KUL departure

 

29MAR09 - 13MAY09 Day x123

14MAY09 - 21MAY09 Day x13

22MAY09 - 18JUN09 Day x135

19JUN09 - 29JUN09 Day x13

30JUN09 - 25JUL09 Day x137

26JUL09 - 04AUG09 Day x13

05AUG09 - 01SEP09 Day x134

02SEP09 - 12SEP09 Day x13

13SEP09 - 09OCT09 Day x136

10OCT09 - Day x13

 

Kuala Lunmpur - Guangzhou

Service has been reduced from 2 to 1 Daily (MH366/367 cancelled), and is being maintained in 09 Summer

 

Kuala Lumpur - Hanoi

Service has been reduced from 9 weekly to 7 weekly

 

Kuala Lumpur - Kunming

Reducing from 4 to 3 weekly

 

Kuala Lumpur - Osaka

Service reduce from Daily to 6 weekly (Day 3 from KUL cancelled), previously noted

 

Kuala Lumpur - Paris

Service reduce to 6 weekly (Day 2 from KUL cancelled)

 

Kuala Lumpur - Rome

Service reduce from 4 to 3 weekly on certain periods:

 

30MAR09 - 07MAY09 Day 146

08MAY09 Day 5

09MAY09 - Day 146

 

Kuala Lumpur - Seoul

NONSTOP service has already reduced from 5 weekly to 4 weekly (Day x237)

 

Kuala Lumpur - Shanghai

Service reductions from 14 to 12 weekly already in effect

 

MH386/387 x2

MH388/389 x3

 

From 03APR09, service further reduced to 11 weekly, and returns to 12 weekly from 03AUG09. By 09SEP09, service returns to 2 Daily

 

MH386/387 Daily

MH388/389

03APR09 - 29MAY09 x234

30MAY09 - 29JUN09 x245

30JUN09 - 02AUG09 x235

03AUG09 - 08SEP09 x13

09SEP09 - Daily

 

Kuala Lumpur - Stockholm - Newark

From 29MAR09 service operates with 777 instead of 747, previously noted

 

Kuala Lumpur - Sydney - Brisbane - Kuala Lumpur

Service already reduced from Daily to 5 weekly (Day x24 from KUL)

 

Kuala Lumpur - Tokyo

MH070/071 service reduce from 5 (Day x15) to 4 weekly (Day x134) from 13MAY09 to 23MAY09

[Azreen 0]

And such is the effect of this "Made in America Financial Crisis....."

[KK Lee 5]

Cutting capacity during recession is sensible. However, MH has been cutting for the last few years.

 

When will MH cutting be reversed? Is MH well positioned to compete and expand in the next economy upturn?

 

 

 

[Isaac 0]

MAS ticket pricing is extremely uncompetitive. They are only cheap when they are having sales. Thai Airways is cheaper than MAS most of the time to Europe and to BKK. Even SIA is cheaper than MAS from time to time.

 

Another downside of MAS is that they DO NOT have daily flight to many of their destinations. Unlike TG and SQ, many choices of flight everyday and most of their destinations have AT LEAST daily flight.

Edited March 12, 2009 by Isaac

[Radzi 2]

Kuala Lumpur - Chennai

Planned 737-800 replacing A330 from mid-June has been shelved

 

Bad news indeed. But I still hope the B738 will eventually take over this route from the A330, plus Dhaka, Hyderabad and similar in the future.

 

[Chee Yong 0]

Hope MH will do something do encounter the current situation and be able to compete with others in future.

[Tony 1]

MAS ticket pricing is extremely uncompetitive. They are only cheap when they are having sales. Thai Airways is cheaper than MAS most of the time to Europe and to BKK. Even SIA is cheaper than MAS from time to time.

 

Another downside of MAS is that they DO NOT have daily flight to many of their destinations. Unlike TG and SQ, many choices of flight everyday and most of their destinations have AT LEAST daily flight.

Agree. During non-sales period, fares ex AU is quoted at Full Flex price. Makes me wonder if the flights are really full or it's intentionally capped for whatever reasons. <_>

[Kenneth T 0]

Guess world airlines are experiencing a low demand for seats. CX just reported $1.1 Billion loss recently....MH/SQ and etc are not exlcuded either

[Sing Yew 1]

Guess world airlines are experiencing a low demand for seats. CX just reported $1.1 Billion loss recently....MH/SQ and etc are not exlcuded either

 

A huge portion of CX's losses were due to fuel hedging losses.

Edited March 12, 2009 by Sing Yew

[Johan Lim 0]

Heard about the 50% off landing fees at Malaysia's airports for 2 years?!

 

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?f...mp;sec=business

[KK Lee 5]

For some reason they decided to cancel KUL/DAC on next Monday 16th March Instead of MH, will now travelling on AK.

 

Edited March 12, 2009 by KK Lee

[Ashmil Abd Ghani 0]

Sometime this question come across in my head,, when an airline reduce their capacity and/or terminate a station/destination,, how it effect to the airline tech and cabin crew roster??

 

It involve mass calculation since I have no idea about roster arrangement but Should be an excess crew..

 

How do MAS/an airline handle this excess crew??Are they encourage to take unpaid leave?? or they will be less working period for them??

[Tony 1]

Sometime this question come across in my head,, when an airline reduce their capacity and/or terminate a station/destination,, how it effect to the airline tech and cabin crew roster??

 

It involve mass calculation since I have no idea about roster arrangement but Should be an excess crew..

 

How do MAS/an airline handle this excess crew??Are they encourage to take unpaid leave?? or they will be less working period for them??

Yes there will be a surplus of crew required to operate flights, and you have a few options before announcing retrenchment, and here's a few examples.

- Leave Without Pay

- Reduce annual leave accrual

- Reduce work and pay to part-time basis

- Recruitment freeze

[Kenneth T 0]

A huge portion of CX's losses were due to fuel hedging losses.

 

But the CEO of CX clearly clearifed that fuel hedge is not the main losses..the promary reason is due to drastic reduction in demand

Edited March 15, 2009 by Kenneth T

[Pieter C. 5]

KL-AF also reducing in Summer09 (as opposed to Summer08):

 

The AIR FRANCE KLM Group’s summer 2009 schedule (29 March to 25 October) has been adjusted in line with the sharp decline in demand caused by the economic crisis. Average capacity for the summer 2009 season will be down 3.4% compared with last summer.

 

KLM is safeguarding its global network by reallocating aircraft to different routes and adjusting schedules to make them more attractive for customers. Services to Tallinn, Hyderabad and Aruba have been suspended while direct flights to Liverpool and Calgary will be introduced. More than in previous seasons, capacity will now be adjusted for peak months. KLM’s overall capacity will be reduced by about 5% compared to last summer.

 

North America

KLM plans to pursue its strong focus on strategic markets, an example of which is the introduction of a new service to Calgary, Canada, five times a week. Cooperating with WestJet offers Air France and KLM the opportunity to strengthen their position in Canada.

 

KLM intends to further develop its joint venture with Delta Air Lines. As one of the first steps in intensifying cooperation, Delta and Northwest plan to mutually implement cross fleeting. Newark and Portland (Oregon) will be the first destinations to apply this, using a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-300.

 

Northwest Airlines will add a third frequency to New York JFK. New early morning departures from JFK and Chicago should improve connections to the Middle East and Africa, making these schedules commercially more attractive.

 

Central and South America

The total number of weekly roundtrips on the Amsterdam-Panama City route will be raised from two to five. KLM has suspended flights to Aruba. Passengers can still fly to Aruba seven days a week with Martinair. Capacity to Paramaribo will increase from three flights a week using Boeing 747 equipment to four flights a week using an MD-11. Starting 1 June, a fifth weekly flight will be added to this schedule to better meet seasonal market demand. Capacity will be increased on the route to Curaçao, with flights using B747 equipment instead of an MD-11. Twice a week these flights will also serve the island of St. Maarten.

 

Asia

Together with strategic partner China Southern, KLM plans to operate 14 weekly services between Beijing and Amsterdam. Shanghai is scheduled for twelve frequencies, while service to Chengdu will increase to four weekly roundtrips. KLM is adjusting its schedules to Hong Kong and Shanghai, ensuring that flights from these cities and from Amsterdam depart in the evening.

 

Service to the Indian market will be adjusted in response to local market developments and financial results from these routes. KLM has suspended operations to Hyderabad, while trimming capacity to Mumbai as a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-300 replaces the Northwest Airlines Airbus A330-200. Overall capacity to Asia will be reduced by around 5%.

 

Africa and the Middle East

Less affected by the economic crisis, Africa and the Middle East still offer opportunities for growth. Overall, KLM plans to raise capacity to these regions. KLM will increase frequency to Entebbe (Uganda) from four to five flights a week, while deploying larger aircraft on the Amsterdam-Nairobi route. Frequencies to Teheran will be increased from four to five flights a week and Muscat from five to six.

 

Europe

Capacity will be reduced by around 4% in Europe. Flights on the Tallinn route will be suspended and capacity to Nice, Bristol, Kiev and other destinations will be reduced. The reallocated fleet will strengthen KLM’s presence in Northern Europe by increasing flight frequency to Stavanger (five daily roundtrips) and Helsinki (four daily roundtrips). KLM will start by launching thrice daily service between Amsterdam and Liverpool.

 

Fleet

This summer KLM expects to welcome its third and fourth Boeing 777-300. These aircraft are intended for deployment on routes to South-East Asia, Latin America and Africa. KLM is also renewing its regional fleet by gradually replacing its Fokker 100s with Embraer 190s. These aircraft will mainly be deployed on routes operated by KLM Cityhopper.

 

 

[Chow Chee Hou 0]

[Airline braces for more pain following 2008 record loss

 

Briefings for staff on Thursday - conducted by Chief Executive Tony Tyler and Chief Operating Officer John Slosar - pulled no punches in giving details of why the Cathay Pacific Group made a big loss last year, and why the situation seems to be going from bad to worse.

 

The reasons behind the HK$8.6 billion loss - the triple whammy of a soaring fuel bill, fuel hedging losses and a recession-drive in passenger and cargo demand - were clearly outlined, with both Tony and John going into some detail to explain how the hedging losses came about. "The airline business was a bad business to be in last year and the hedging situation just made it worse," said John.

 

Staff were shocked to discover that, disregarding hedging and other variables, CX and KA actually made a HK$1.34 billion operating loss in 2008 compared to a HK$5.2 billion gain in 2007, and that there was a significant drain on the Group's cash reserves last year.

 

Tony made it clear that the big worry is what will happen in the months to come. Hedging losses are still being made - HK$1.9 billion in the first two months of 2009 - but the major concern now is the continued impact of the economic downturn on the airline's core business.

 

"We budgeted for an overall reduction in revenue this year, but cargo revenue is well down even against this low budget and passenger revenue is also well behind," said Tony. "We are filling up the back end, but at very low yields, while our front end revenue for January and February was down 34% on 2008. And remember that every premium passenger we lose is worth many in Economy Class."

 

John explained that negative currency effects are also taking a big bite out of earnings. "Generally we'd like the dollar to be weak because it means the tickets we sell in other currencies can be turned into more Hong Kong dollars, but at the moment we have a 'perfect storm' of currencies working against us to push down yields."

 

Yields are also being driven down by a slew of cheap fares that are propping up back-end business, and to make it a perfect storm all round the airline's hedging position means it is not getting the full benefit of the low fuel price.

 

Both the CE and COO concluded that 2009 is going to be a very tough year. The weakening revenue picture makes it clear that even the airline's revised budget and general belt tightening will not be sufficient.

 

"If we don’t take action now we are looking at another, possibly even larger operating loss for 2009. Given the rate at which our cash balance has been depleted this would place the airline in a very precarious position," John said.

 

A thorough review of every flight - passenger and cargo - to every destination is now being undertaken and management will soon have a clearer picture of which flights the airline cannot afford to keep operating. This will give an estimate of what surplus capacity there is and whether aircraft need to be parked. The team is already looking at lease renewals and the possibility of deferring deliveries.

 

In terms of conserving cash, cancelling some flights will help and further efforts will be made to reduce non-customer costs and defer capital expenditure. Both John and Tony made it clear that some difficult decisions might have to be made.

 

"I know that job security is uppermost in everyone’s minds and it remains our wish and intention to do all we can to keep the network intact, and to keep the team together. However, at the end of the day our ability to do that will depend on the market - and the market has got much worse than we expected," Tony said.

 

"I fear it’s inevitable that there is going to have to be some pain, which will be shared by all of us on the team. To get our costs down and to preserve our cash balances I think it’s unavoidable that we will be asking for more unpaid leave. And I can’t rule out the possibility of even more painful measures being needed to be taken."

 

In a sharp and painful downturn "we need to plan for the worst. But eventually the market will recover - and Asia will probably lead the charge when it does," Tony said. "Our job is to make sure CX is alive and well and ready to take advantage when that happens and we will do everything we can to guide the company through these challenges.

 

"Right now, what you can all do to help is to do your job as well as you possibly can."

 

[Sing Yew 1]

But the CEO of CX clearly clearifed that fuel hedge is not the main losses..the promary reason is due to drastic reduction in demand

 

Fuel is still one of the major culprits.

 

As quoted below and also by CX's Chairman:

 

Cathay Pacific Chairman Christopher Pratt said: “Having made a painful adjustment to high fuel prices, the aviation industry now has to adjust to a severe economic downturn. Cathay Pacific expects an extremely challenging year in 2009. Passenger and cargo demand are expected to remain weak and, if fuel prices remain at their present levels, further losses on fuel hedging contracts will be incurred (although they will not be at the levels incurred in 2008 and the actual cost of fuel will be substantially lower than in 2008). Up to the end of February, unrealised mark to market losses on fuel hedging of HK$1.9 billion have been incurred in 2009, compared with HK$7.6 billion for the whole of 2008. The 2009 losses principally reflect reductions in the forward prices payable for fuel during the periods in which the relevant fuel hedging contracts will mature.

 

Source: Link

 

[Airline braces for more pain following 2008 record loss

 

Briefings for staff on Thursday - conducted by Chief Executive Tony Tyler and Chief Operating Officer John Slosar - pulled no punches in giving details of why the Cathay Pacific Group made a big loss last year, and why the situation seems to be going from bad to worse.

 

The reasons behind the HK$8.6 billion loss - the triple whammy of a soaring fuel bill, fuel hedging losses and a recession-drive in passenger and cargo demand - were clearly outlined, with both Tony and John going into some detail to explain how the hedging losses came about. "The airline business was a bad business to be in last year and the hedging situation just made it worse," said John.

 

Staff were shocked to discover that, disregarding hedging and other variables, CX and KA actually made a HK$1.34 billion operating loss in 2008 compared to a HK$5.2 billion gain in 2007, and that there was a significant drain on the Group's cash reserves last year.

 

Tony made it clear that the big worry is what will happen in the months to come. Hedging losses are still being made - HK$1.9 billion in the first two months of 2009 - but the major concern now is the continued impact of the economic downturn on the airline's core business.

 

[Radzi 2]

There is a possibility that MH might ground (or put to long term parking) 1 X A330 and 3 X B744.

[Izanee 0]

they can fly with ATRs and 737-400s then. huge cutbacks in routes/frequencies for MH. i suppose they have to ride out the storm and hope for the best

[KK Lee 5]

There is a possibility that MH might ground (or put to long term parking) 1 X A330 and 3 X B744.

 

 

Thought a few 744 are already grounded exclude those from cargo?

 

[Nik H. 3]

Thought a few 744 are already grounded exclude those from cargo?

 

 

You are korek.

 

Two planned for LTP. One is being used as spare backup. Its nice to cut back from a cut back position rather than having to cut back from an expansionist position.

[Isaac 0]

There is a possibility that MH might ground (or put to long term parking) 1 X A330 and 3 X B744.

3 more 744 to go ? Then there will just be 8 active 744 then.

 

MAS should just return the leased 333 to its lessor.

 

[Simon 3]

3 more 744 to go ? Then there will just be 8 active 744 then.

 

MAS should just return the leased 333 to its lessor.

MAS facing hard time ??

[Walter Sim 1]

Not only MH, SQ is cutting down frequency and routes too... economic downturn mahhhh.

[jeff 0]

MAS facing hard time ??

 

SQ too...