2006- Turning year of MAS?

[Min Chun 0]

2006 Turning Point Year For MAS, Says Aviation Centre

December 23, 2005 00:28 AM

 

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 (Bernama) -- The year 2006 will be a watershed year for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) as AirAsia continues its growth pattern, says the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in a statement prior to its 2006 Outlook Report release due in January next year.

 

Its executive chairman, Peter Harbison, said the continuing high fuel prices and employees costs, as well as intensive regional competition had applied significant pressure on MAS, increasing the urgency for the airline to undertake a RM3 billion restructure next year.

 

MAS had recently announced a second quarter loss of RM367.7 million and the fact that less than half of its routes to Europe and Latin America were profitable.

 

Overall, Harbison said, 2006 would be the make-or-break year for major airlines in the region.

 

He said that the centre sees some uncertainty under an otherwise positive outlook and warned that slow progress towards airline restructuring and greater liberalisation of air routes and critical pilot shortages threaten the realisation of growth strategies.

 

"As we enter 2006, there is a higher than usual level of unpredictability as the still-unknown impact of higher fuel costs continues to flow through to consumer spending. As the airline industry is in the frontline economic indicators, any change will be quickly felt.

 

"At the same time, we are seeing unprecedented orders for new aircraft by Asian operators for delivery from 2007, in response to opportunities for expansion both on short and long haul sectors within and beyond the region," he said.

 

-- BERNAMA

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Min Chun,

 

Turning year ONLY, if they shed-off uprofitable (European) routes and (overhead)-ground-staff, I believe; it's harsh, but needed to turn-around from extensive losses

[Seth K 3]

MAS had recently announced a second quarter loss of RM367.7 million and the fact that less than half of its routes to Europe and Latin America were profitable.

 

22860[/snapback]

 

Pull them out then, codeshare will be a good idea...MH now need to join alliance especially skyteam because MAS can get a lot of profit from there, with all major airlines cooperate together, more passengers will use the available flight. MH can give a good connecting flight to Australia and SEA, but Europe 50/50 cancel A380 order, just my opinion, don't hate me smaller aircraft-full is profitable, bigger aircraft-less pax, no need

 

Happy New Year

[Sing Yew 1]

Any ideas which are the unprofitable European routes ?

 

[Izanee 0]

i'm guessing vienna (already has 9 weekly flights to KUL - 6 by OS, 3 by MH), rome (3 weekly) and zurich (3 weekly)...

 

London, Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt will be fine...

 

 

[H Azmal 0]

SO is MAS going to scrap Ezeiza?

[Sandeep G 1]

it won't be a turnaround year for MAS if i what I saw happening this morning continues...

 

My brother in law was heading back to Perth this morning on MH-125... so we arrived at the airport at 8am... the check-in queue was insane!! MAS really needs to address this.. even if it is for a couple of hours in the morning and evening only... passengers wait up to an hour to check in, people cannot sit and old people get tired and by the time you get to the check in counter, pax were all grumbling.. Then to top that off, I don't know if you all know this, but MAS is now enforcing stringently its 20kg allowance for economy pax... ALL OTHER AIRLINES ACCEPT ALLOWANCE UP TO 25-30kg! This ruling is as of yesterday... yesterday I sent my ahmoi to the airport as she was flying back to Perth via Singapore.. her family took SIA to SIN and QF to PER... but they were allowed 30 kgs each!!!

 

MAS is killing itself with this new ruling.. my bro-in-law was 4 kgs over.. they asked him to unpack the 4 kilos or pay RM144!!! Is this how MAS expects to recover their loss?? Luckily I realised that they asked him to put hi golf bag on also.. So i asked the check-in staff "isn't golf bag free allowance?".. to which she replied "I don't know".. MAS staff don't even know the rules ah??? Where got meaning... She checked with her officer and learn't that golf bag IS free allowance and he was then under the limit...

 

MAS needs to address some important operational procedures.. This is not a 5 star airline.. I don't know of any 5 star hotel where one needs to queue for an hour to check-in and are refused a few kilos of extra allowance.. MAS never published that this 20 kilo rule was to be enforced... Is MAS THAT desperate??? What is happening to our national airline??? To make things worth, they are saying the 5-14% fare increase is a reflection of the services offered by MAS and its 5-star ranking..

 

I fear the inevitable for MAS is that they are going to lose this 5-star ranking this year.. it is after all the passengers that gave them this ranking.. so as a passenger, I wouldn't call MAS 5-star... maybe 5-Falling stars...

 

If this is the new ways of MAS, I will fly SIA, and I say that as a very proud and loyal MAS passenger.. but this is too much lah..

[Sing Yew 1]

Has anyone watched the movie "Enron: The Smartest Guy In The Room" ?

I hope MH doesn't ends up that way.

 

[Seth K 3]

it won't be a turnaround year for MAS if i what I saw happening this morning continues...

 

After I read, no it won't

 

My brother in law was heading back to Perth this morning on MH-125... so we arrived at the airport at 8am... the check-in queue was insane!! MAS really needs to address this.. even if it is for a couple of hours in the morning and evening only... passengers wait up to an hour to check in, people cannot sit and old people get tired and by the time you get to the check in counter, pax were all grumbling.. 

 

Really, everytime I use KLIA , they always empty, like I'm the only there, and I used the business lounge regularly(sit there like 3-4 hours), there are only like few people(less than 10 ). Back to the check in, may be MAS need to reduce some of the Biz/ First counter since there are not many use them( during my visit there, don't know other time)

 

Then to top that off, I don't know if you all know this, but MAS is now enforcing stringently its 20kg allowance for economy pax... ALL OTHER AIRLINES ACCEPT ALLOWANCE UP TO 25-30kg! This ruling is as of yesterday... yesterday I sent my ahmoi to the airport as she was flying back to Perth via Singapore.. her family took SIA to SIN and QF to PER... but they were allowed 30 kgs each!!!

 

20 kilo is outrageous So tourists come to Malaysia can't buy to many sourvenier ler Then the Malaysian government campaign to visit Malaysia n shopping like a mad women won't happen too

 

MAS is killing itself with this new ruling.. my bro-in-law was 4 kgs over.. they asked him to unpack the 4 kilos or pay RM144!!!  Is this how MAS expects to recover their loss?? 

 

I flew Continental, and my limit exceed more than 5 and they don't even care(nice old women) A lil off topic, the guy ask him to unpack his 4kg, this is the reason the queue is so long cuz some passenger willingly to unpack their luggage which took time

 

Luckily I realised that they asked him to put hi golf bag on also.. So i asked the check-in staff "isn't golf bag free allowance?".. to which she replied "I don't know".. MAS staff don't even know the rules ah??? Where got meaning...  She checked with her officer and learn't that golf bag IS free allowance and he was then under the limit...

 

That is totally serious May be one of their tactics too get the customer pay more by not realising the law! If the passenger don't know they pay, if they do, luck passenger

 

MAS needs to address some important operational procedures.. This is not a 5 star airline.. I don't know of any 5 star hotel where one needs to queue for an hour to check-in and are refused a few kilos of extra allowance.. MAS never published that this 20 kilo rule was to be enforced... Is MAS THAT desperate??? What is happening to our national airline??? To make things worth, they are saying the 5-14% fare increase is a reflection of the services offered by MAS and its 5-star ranking..

 

5-14% fare increase and still allow 20 kilo onboard, that is suxball Is this the new British guy idea

 

I fear the inevitable for MAS is that they are going to lose this 5-star ranking this year.. it is after all the passengers that gave them this ranking.. so as a passenger, I wouldn't call MAS 5-star... maybe 5-Falling stars...

 

agree, but still I vote them 5 star cause I always have a good experience with them

 

If this is the new ways of MAS, I will fly SIA, and I say that as a very proud and loyal MAS passenger.. but this is too much lah..

 

If this happen to me, I won't fly SIA, I fly CX, they much cheaper than MH actually, and better service too, what the heck, let's stay with MH

 

Is it true local people treat differently from foreign people onboard, that's what I heard

 

[Min Chun 0]

Agree with Seth K..cancel the A380 orders..or just but 1 or 2..and i prefer MH than SQ or CX too..

[Walter Sim 1]

cancel the A380.

 

for a mmoment i tought MH bought that plane to just boost PR and for publicity only...

 

[Hisham Albakri 0]

Guys! This is a free world, free market ... ditch MH and fly the alternatives available ... AK, SQ, OS, QF, NZ, KL, LH ... all ok what ... also, perhaps MH would want to reconsider their A380 order! Hmm ... my DW MH's A380 model could really fetch a good price from eBay ...

[Walter Sim 1]

heh! then they can kill two birds with one stone, right Hisham??

 

Well, being a Malaysian i will fly MH if given the chance. I love my national airline

[Min Chun 0]

yeah..better reconsdier their order..bought 2 enough..MH not EK ler..

[Sing Yew 1]

Guys! This is a free world, free market ... ditch MH and fly the alternatives available ... AK, SQ, OS, QF, NZ, KL, LH ... all ok what ... also, perhaps MH would want to reconsider their A380 order! Hmm ... my DW MH's A380 model could really fetch a good price from eBay ... 

22938[/snapback]

 

Problem is, QF and NZ don't fly into KUL, you'll need to fly to SIN for that.

 

[Sing Yew 1]

yeah..better reconsdier their order..bought 2 enough..MH not EK ler..

22942[/snapback]

 

If it's just 1 or 2 left, they're much better off not having any at all.

 

[Sing Yew 1]

Read this in the news today, I hope MH doesn't follow the same path:

 

Garuda Indonesia Now Rated One of Asia`S Weakest Airlines

JAKARTA, Jan 2 Asia Pulse - Indonesia's national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is now rated as one of the weakest airlines in Asia, but the government is not planning to sell it, State Enterprises Minister Sugiharto said here.

The minister made the statement to refute rumors reported by a local newspaper recently that the government now planning to sell the airline.

 

He said Garuda`s rating had dropped so low that statistics on the performance of Asian airlines no longer mentioned it, because it could no longer be compared to Asian airlines like Japan Airlines or Singapore Airlines.

 

He said Garuda`s financial performance was negative while it was bearing a debt burden of US$845 million.

 

However, Sugiharto was still hoping that in the present era of global competition the company could undergo a business transformation by forging an alliance or operational cooperation agreements with foreign airlines.

 

He said with the conclusion of an open-air agreement among countries in the Asian region whereby an airline of one country can freely operate in another country, competition among airline companies in the region would be become increasingly tight. "A business transformation is therefore a must for Garuda," he said.    On the other hand, Sugiharto said, under the Master Plan of State Enterprises, the government would consolidate the position of state enterprises through a restructuring process.

 

Under this plan, the number of state enterprises would be reduced from 158 to 82. The state enterprises would then also be divided into three categories, namely Stand-Alone, Sectoral Holding, and Merger group.

 

(ANTARA)

Link to the article

 

 

 

 

 

[Hisham Albakri 0]

heh! then they can kill two birds with one stone, right Hisham??

 

Well, being a Malaysian i will fly MH if given the chance. I love my national airline

22941[/snapback]

 

I'm a proud Malaysian and love to fly MH than any other airlines ... but some of the stuff that's been going on, MH's digging their own grave, IMHO! In all instances that I have flown in my life, the only reason I've not flown on MH was due to economic factors ... make their ticket cheaper and you'll get me and my family to happily fly MH, no questions asked!

[Hisham Albakri 0]

Problem is, QF and NZ don't fly into KUL, you'll need to fly to SIN for that.

22978[/snapback]

 

I'll happily fly via SIN if it's cheaper Sing Yew

 

As for MH suffering GA's fate, perhaps we should wait and see ... give Idris Jala a chance lah!

Edited January 2, 2006 by Hisham Albakri

[Sing Yew 1]

I'll happily fly via SIN if it's cheaper Sing Yew 

 

As for MH suffering GA's fate, perhaps we should wait and see ... give Idris Jala a chance lah!

22985[/snapback]

 

I wouldn't mind flying via SIN as well.

 

Well it's not just Idris Jala alone tht has to be implementing all the change, it needs everyone's effort. One swallow does not a summer make.

Agree with you that we should wait and see but MH don't have much time in their hands though.

 

 

[Sandeep G 1]

I also would prefer to fly MAS, but if they are going to be unreasonable in an area of crucial importance to the passenger such as baggage allowance, then I HAVE to fly the alternatives...

 

I hope Idris turns around MAS.. but its not just MAS that needs work.. KLIA needs a lot of input too and MAB is another spoonfed GLC... KLIA lacks in so many areas.. it is undermaintained and becoming shabby.. systems don't operate efficiently such as the autopay stations, touts still plague the arrivals hall... the baggage system needs to be readdressed.. I tell you there are so many areas they need to look at, but don't.. why? NO MONEY?! Poor fiscal management.. there is plenty of financial talent in Malaysia, I hope Idris Jala is one, but one must also realise that fiscal management is a whole new ball game in the aviation industry..

 

I want MAS to thrive, I want KLIA to thrive.. we don't need Qantas, BA or all these so called big big carriers.. we need a solid, efficient and reliable MAS!! Then we will see these other big birds trying to capture the Malaysian market.. now it's too easy for them to steal malaysian marketshare through Singapore and Bangkok... MAS has been sidelined and needs to come back to the centreline and put full thrust...

 

In terms of aviation, MAS is like a 747-400 coming in for an emergency landing.. the aircraft is in a serious condition, but its not being brought in for a safe landing. at the moment it's being thrashed around.. the pilots (management) have only one attempt to go around and come in successfully.. we're past decision height.. the windshear is bad, it's raining, there's strong crosswinds at 100 ft. above the threshold... the plane needs to execute a Go-around immediately! APPLY TO/GA AND BRING HER IN SAFELY MR. JALA and MAS Execs!! You have the skills and the talent in your employees, but do you have the courage to face the situation and perform this somewhat hair-raising feat..

[Sandeep G 1]

BTW, MAS should go on and get the A380.

 

It's no big deal as it is 2 years away from service.. so don't worry. Also, don't forget MAS has already commissioned the A380 maintenance facility project so capital has already been outlined.

[Pieter C. 5]

I also would prefer to fly MAS, but if they are going to be unreasonable in an area of crucial importance to the passenger such as baggage allowance, then I HAVE to fly the alternatives...

 

Sandeep,

 

Just one question: what was stated on the ticket in the "max. baggage allowance" box ? 20KG or 30KG ?

 

 

[Sandeep G 1]

Pieter, there you got me lah, the max allowance is 20kg.. but that's the case with all airlines i've flown realistically they allow 25-30 kg.. this morning i was a little hot-headed with my comments lah.. maybe I not that angry lah.. I will fly MH of course lah but if i'm overweight which I always am, now I will be scared

 

But MAS is still the golden airline in my eyes, I just want to see her triumph again lah

 

 

[Sanjay Thaker 0]

A380 is not a waste money it would be totally profitable to use a brand new aircraft..better efficiency...bigger capacity and newer services and of coz PR...for routes like the kangaroo route....its a money spinning route..they wont be losing out by replacing the 744 with an A380 for these routes..