Jump to content
MalaysianWings - Malaysia's Premier Aviation Portal
Mohd Suhaimi Fariz

MAS Privatisation

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, kandiah k said:

https://www.nst.com.my/business/2022/05/794980/malaysia-airlines-expands-international-network-new-direct-flight-doha

Perhaps this is to provide support to QR who are unable to mount flights to KUL due to some of their aircrafts being groundedĀ šŸ˜Ž

Just wondering why it is timed in such a way too :)

Your guess is correct. Qatar Airways used to fly 3x daily, now they are doing twice daily, the other slot will be taken up by Malaysia Airlines. The reduction on QR part was due to aircraft shortage: 28Ā A350 grounded and 9 B787-9 deliveries are delayed. They are bringing back another 5 A380 and lease 4 ex-CX B777-300ERĀ  but it is not good enough.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello and welcome back to air travel :)

Has anyone seen theĀ seat map for MH 160/161 (KUL-DOH-KUL)? It's a veryĀ interesting configuration.

BTW, MH also received approval from MAVCOM for 7x weekly KUL-HND flights beginning June. Maybe I am out of the loop for a very long time, but did D7 gave up their rights or did Japan grant more slots to Malaysia?Ā 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Would like to see once MH start HND - will it supplement 12 weekly NRT or they will reduce NRT?

With the launch of DOH & HND, will they have enuff widebody for that?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, Riza said:

With the launch of DOH & HND, will they have enuff widebody for that?

Can use the 738 if traffic volume not big ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 5/14/2022 at 8:03 PM, Riza said:

Would like to see once MH start HND - will it supplement 12 weekly NRT or they will reduce NRT?

With the launch of DOH & HND, will they have enuff widebody for that?

It's way too early to speculate on the future of MH's TYO service. At the moment we don't even know what their intention is with the HND slots.

They're not anywhere near full schedule yet. Plenty of frames to go around.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

MH was stupid. They gave up their HND slots .. first they made it BKI-HND then gave it away to D7, if I remember correctly.Ā 
Ā 

Hopefully they will make use of their prized HND slots nowĀ 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, Izanee said:

MH was stupid. They gave up their HND slots .. first they made it BKI-HND then gave it away to D7, if I remember correctly.Ā 
Ā 

Hopefully they will make use of their prized HND slots nowĀ 

It was whoever who distributed the slots last time (can't recall if MAVCOM was set up then). 3x weekly to D7 and MH and 1x weekly to Transmile (for cargo) so they are trying to be fair to everyone but in the end it killed MH and Transmile because these 3/1 weekly flights probably not feasible to them. MH went with BKI-HND 3x B738 which obviously didn't work out for them.

JL and NH announced that they will resume daily NRT-KUL beginning 1 July. NH's HND-KUL remain suspended at the moment.

Edited by Craig

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

MH just announced its HND schedule (only twice weekly for now). Beginning 14AUG22:

MH36 1145KUL - HND2235 37 333

MH37 0025HND - KUL0615 14 333

Ā 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It also appears that MH 160/161 (KUL-DOH) will take over QR848/849 at least until June? QR848/849 has been removed from schedule once MH starts its DOH flights.Ā 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was on the inaugral MH160 and returned today on Mh161. The flights were packed to the brim and no seats empty at all. Basically it is replacing QR 848 so the pax are trasnferred to MH 160/161. No doubt they have instant full load. Interesting cooperation between QR and MH šŸ˜‰

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As a long time KUL-SIN commuter itā€™s good to see that things are slowly returning to normal which schedules increasing. Unfortunately, there is a nasty trend that MH are selling tickets forĀ flights and then cancelling them with 1-2 weeks to go.

Almost every single flight Iā€™ve booked since April 1 has been cancelled and even when I rebooked, they get cancelled. At one point recently they were cancelling flights and thenĀ Ā flying with just a single daily flight with an A330.Ā Ā 

Iā€™m constrained with timings so I can just leave the office early when MH decides to cancel and I donā€™t want to burn what little leave I have by keep having to take half days.Ā 

How they can expect to operate a key business route in such a shambolic way is anyoneā€™s guess.

Is it a load issue or a shortage of crew/aircraft?

Perhaps itā€™s a scan to collect people money knowing that they will likely cancel.

Any insiders able to share some insight?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, Robert said:

As a long time KUL-SIN commuter itā€™s good to see that things are slowly returning to normal which schedules increasing. Unfortunately, there is a nasty trend that MH are selling tickets forĀ flights and then cancelling them with 1-2 weeks to go.

Almost every single flight Iā€™ve booked since April 1 has been cancelled and even when I rebooked, they get cancelled. At one point recently they were cancelling flights and thenĀ Ā flying with just a single daily flight with an A330.Ā Ā 

Iā€™m constrained with timings so I can just leave the office early when MH decides to cancel and I donā€™t want to burn what little leave I have by keep having to take half days.Ā 

How they can expect to operate a key business route in such a shambolic way is anyoneā€™s guess.

Is it a load issue or a shortage of crew/aircraft?

Perhaps itā€™s a scan to collect people money knowing that they will likely cancel.

Any insiders able to share some insight?

Same experience as above with MH lately as frequent traveller on BKI-SDK vv, although I didn't expect that to occur onĀ such a very important route (KUL-SIN).Ā 

During the height of MCOs, I put my trust with MH more so than AK becauseĀ I was under the impression that AK flights were prone to cancellations. But recently it was the other way around.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't see it being anything but the 787s.

Would be pleasantly surprised if it were the A350s. The capacity would be similar to the A330s.

How I wish they'd change the livery first though!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
13 hours ago, flee said:

Will it be announced at Farnborough? Also, what will they order to replace the freighters, this report seems to cover only the pax aircraft?

I got a glimpse of the so called recovery plan(but knowing mh the plans are never fix). With ktm, hnd, nearby asean like cgk, dps being upgauge and few new destinations being primed, they need 33 widebody aircraft(minus the 3 freighters) while narrowbody is downsizing to 30-35planes.Ā 

2-3 a330s(majority 332s) leaving next year while 1 or more new widebodies aircraft are scheduled to enter the fleet at that year as well. It also seems all a332s are to exit the fleet asap compared to a333s. More than half of mh current a333 would not have their leases renewed(very adamant) but a small fleet of them are to be retained until 2027 max.

Its very likely mh would order this 20 widebody aircraft they'll be supplement by the leftover 333s and 6 a350s to meet the 33 aircraft requirement.

Would have to wait this coming july to see what aircraft it chooses(still 787-9 vs a330-900neo apparently). Also it seems mh might be getting the replacement aircraft within 1 year of ordering quite possibly it might be ntu frames.Ā 

Note also the so called replacement thing has been dragging since early 2019. If MH ops to delay again it will be behind again. Garuda just got their restructuring in check and they've begun talking to Boeing and Airbus regarding ntu frames lying around while Thai is also back on track and is doing the same and retaining 6 b777-200ER which were supposed to be disposed as temporary adhoc.

Ā 

Edited by jahur

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/11/2022 at 3:52 PM, Robert said:

As a long time KUL-SIN commuter itā€™s good to see that things are slowly returning to normal which schedules increasing. Unfortunately, there is a nasty trend that MH are selling tickets forĀ flights and then cancelling them with 1-2 weeks to go.

Almost every single flight Iā€™ve booked since April 1 has been cancelled and even when I rebooked, they get cancelled. At one point recently they were cancelling flights and thenĀ Ā flying with just a single daily flight with an A330.Ā Ā 

Iā€™m constrained with timings so I can just leave the office early when MH decides to cancel and I donā€™t want to burn what little leave I have by keep having to take half days.Ā 

How they can expect to operate a key business route in such a shambolic way is anyoneā€™s guess.

Is it a load issue or a shortage of crew/aircraft?

Perhaps itā€™s a scan to collect people money knowing that they will likely cancel.

Any insiders able to share some insight?

Mixture of shortage and aircraft issue for MH. Same was reported by Airasia and its still ongoing til this day 2 A333 from airasia x being subbed inconsistently for domestics. Drawback of people complaining of price being expensive and gov asking airlines to reactivate grounded aircrafts asap prior to holiday to allow more seats and lower prices but crew are not ready and aircraft being reactivated has higher chance of tech issue. Last heard more than 50% of KUL based crew who opted unpaid leave have their type rating license expired(No idea why the airlines never bothered to get their annual base check recurrency on schedule during 2021).Ā 

Now the queue to get their sim session appointment is super long. Malaysia only has 4 a320sims, 2 B737NG, 1 A330(Not MAB that sim is based on 1998 circa CRT monitor A333 and has a lot of limitation) simulators available its a super long wait. Sending crew overseas also is a long wait as the other airlines are also clogging up their own sim slots. Airlines in msia are also overselling seats and do not honor the actual amount of seats on day of travel due to logistics(Ignoring on whats really happeningĀ  on operational level) and this is their so called half scam attempt to cope with rising operating costs while all our weak gov could do is give out empty barks with 0 financial input. Expect the issue to persist until mid August unfortunately. Business folks who are in very need of fix appointment and business dealings are advised to double check the most reliable flight time and to avoid low fare classes on all 3 airlines for the time being lol.

Edited by jahur

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/11/2022 at 6:50 AM, Alif A. F. said:

Same experience as above with MH lately as frequent traveller on BKI-SDK vv, although I didn't expect that to occur onĀ such a very important route (KUL-SIN).Ā 

During the height of MCOs, I put my trust with MH more so than AK becauseĀ I was under the impression that AK flights were prone to cancellations. But recently it was the other way around.

Both AK and MH have been outdoing one another in that respect. Can't think of any other country that allowsĀ their airlines to get away with such ridiculous antics.Ā 

It's one thing to cancel or reschedule flightsĀ repeatedly. But to hold on to people's funds without offering a reasonable alternative, is contempt on another level. Their reputations will suffer for a long time to come.

Ā 

Ā 

19 hours ago, jani said:

I don't see it being anything but the 787s.

Would be pleasantly surprised if it were the A350s. The capacity would be similar to the A330s.

How I wish they'd change the livery first though!

From a commonality standpoint, the 359 and 339 make sense. Then again, their decisions have historically been less than sensible, so who knows.Ā 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/20/2022 at 9:50 AM, jani said:

I don't see it being anything but the 787s.

Would be pleasantly surprised if it were the A350s. The capacity would be similar to the A330s.

How I wish they'd change the livery first though!

The problem is that bringing B787s into the fleet will mean additional investment will be needed for infrastructure to handle the aircraft. MH has existing infrastructure for A330s and A350s - so any order for more A359s and A339s will not entail massive investments for infrastructure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/20/2022 at 10:25 AM, jahur said:

I got a glimpse of the so called recovery plan(but knowing mh the plans are never fix). With ktm, hnd, nearby asean like cgk, dps being upgauge and few new destinations being primed, they need 33 widebody aircraft(minus the 3 freighters) while narrowbody is downsizing to 30-35planes.Ā 

2-3 a330s(majority 332s) leaving next year while 1 or more new widebodies aircraft are scheduled to enter the fleet at that year as well. It also seems all a332s are to exit the fleet asap compared to a333s. More than half of mh current a333 would not have their leases renewed(very adamant) but a small fleet of them are to be retained until 2027 max.

Its very likely mh would order this 20 widebody aircraft they'll be supplement by the leftover 333s and 6 a350s to meet the 33 aircraft requirement.

Would have to wait this coming july to see what aircraft it chooses(still 787-9 vs a330-900neo apparently). Also it seems mh might be getting the replacement aircraft within 1 year of ordering quite possibly it might be ntu frames.Ā 

Note also the so called replacement thing has been dragging since early 2019. If MH ops to delay again it will be behind again. Garuda just got their restructuring in check and they've begun talking to Boeing and Airbus regarding ntu frames lying around while Thai is also back on track and is doing the same and retaining 6 b777-200ER which were supposed to be disposed as temporary adhoc.

Yes, MH has been traditionally terrible in fleet planning - that is why they have ended up with a fleet that does not promote cost effectiveness and efficiency.

For the narrow body fleet, their order swap with ALC during the Singapore Airshow probably means that they have settled for a fleet of 25 Max 8s - not sure what will happen to the Max 10 order since the plane is still not certified. With Firefly now operating B738s, I would imagine that the remaining leased aircraft will be transferred to them.

For widebody, it is logical that the ex-Air Berlin A322s would go as they were brought in solely to operate the longer routes. With the A339 now capable of longer range, they no longer need to sacrifice payload for range. The older A333s are still good for the shorter routes and I gues that MAB will keep them until their leases expire. They may want to add 2 or 3 A359s for the more premium routes (e.g. Japan) or if they intend to explore the EU destinations (e.g. Paris) again.

I think B787-9 is a remote possibility but MAB needs bids from Boeing to ensure that Airbus can give them a good deal!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/20/2022 at 12:29 PM, jahur said:

... Same was reported by Airasia and its still ongoing til this day 2 A333 from airasia x being subbed inconsistently for domestics.Ā 

I take it you're referring to 9M-VVA (she is flown under AK name nowadays) and 9M-XXZ (still D7)
From what can be garnered from FR24, these two seem to be employed entirely on KUL-BKI sector nowadays
9M-VVA does like one or two runs a day, 9M-XXZ once every few days or so
Wonder if they are able to earn their keep with that sort of utilization ?!Ā 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, BC Tam said:

I take it you're referring to 9M-VVA (she is flown under AK name nowadays) and 9M-XXZ (still D7)
From what can be garnered from FR24, these two seem to be employed entirely on KUL-BKI sector nowadays
9M-VVA does like one or two runs a day, 9M-XXZ once every few days or so
Wonder if they are able to earn their keep with that sort of utilization ?!Ā 

Should be feasible enough but the passengers who got their flights rescheduled would probably be pissed. Sometimes passengers get shoved for a 4am on a330 departure back to KUL from the original 8pm departure yikes.. There were also cases for BKI where pax turn up for the flight(rescheduled 1day earlier by system due to operational requirement with only 9 hour notice) only for counter to inform the flight for the day was overbooked and the next flight with seats is days away which is crazy. All was offered was the standard credit refund.

Ā 

3 hours ago, flee said:

Yes, MH has been traditionally terrible in fleet planning - that is why they have ended up with a fleet that does not promote cost effectiveness and efficiency.

For the narrow body fleet, their order swap with ALC during the Singapore Airshow probably means that they have settled for a fleet of 25 Max 8s - not sure what will happen to the Max 10 order since the plane is still not certified. With Firefly now operating B738s, I would imagine that the remaining leased aircraft will be transferred to them.

For widebody, it is logical that the ex-Air Berlin A322s would go as they were brought in solely to operate the longer routes. With the A339 now capable of longer range, they no longer need to sacrifice payload for range. The older A333s are still good for the shorter routes and I gues that MAB will keep them until their leases expire. They may want to add 2 or 3 A359s for the more premium routes (e.g. Japan) or if they intend to explore the EU destinations (e.g. Paris) again.

I think B787-9 is a remote possibility but MAB needs bids from Boeing to ensure that Airbus can give them a good deal!

Firefly will be taking some of MH's aircraft but not all. The good news is they'll be mostly the 737s without the Signature cabin and IFE. Funniest story popping around is one aircraft 9M-FFF would be around til 2027 which is crazy. The ex air berlin had to go as it was the most widely complained aircraft by passengers and crew. Imagine flying on a 10.5hour sector and it has no chiller for salads etc and medical+safety equipment location on all 6 aircrafts are all different.

The 330 replacement all depends on whether MH wants long term gains or immediate gains. The startup required to fly the 330neo is significantly lower with the current 330 ceo crew already having commonality plus the range is also good enough. The 787-9 on the other hand sports better fuel economics and OEW parking charges over the 330neo but conversion training initially might be costly, however there were rumors about that Boeing has agreed to offset some of the initial batches of crew training and has offered physical simulator FOC. The seats vendor for 9abreast have also improved as majority are now offering 17.7-18.0inches width+32inch legroom as standard compared to fix 17inches width years ago. Cockpit functionality itself the a330neo lacks some of the perks already seen installed as standard equipped on post delivered 2005 737NGs. Something airbus has been reluctant to add on the new a320neo +a330neo but has it standard equipped on a350 and a380. The 787 makes more operational sense in the long run.

All in all management, Ops, engineering has a say but the all final decision is actually the Board(How much the msian gov wants to put the unnecessary loopsided national agenda over actual operational requirement) and CEO. In the past over the years any sane strategy has always been overlooked by the Board. While It is said it has these sort of bureaucracy nonsense has improved significantly,Ā  me seeing through 3 different Govs and their motives on handling so many things, this is still decades away. Gov can't even maintain a so called national zoo, national defense asset for air force+navy sovereign are severely ageing overdue but the gov have no issue increasing allocation for Islamic affairs during the pandemic by billions but refuse to do anything with airasia, MAG, Malindo.

Edited by jahur

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/21/2022 at 10:24 AM, jahur said:

In the past over the years any sane strategy has always been overlooked by the Board. While It is said it has these sort of bureaucracy nonsense has improved significantly,Ā  me seeing through 3 different Govs and their motives on handling so many things, this is still decades away. Gov can't even maintain a so called national zoo, national defense asset for air force+navy sovereign are severely ageing overdue but the gov have no issue increasing allocation for Islamic affairs during the pandemic by billions but refuse to do anything with airasia, MAG, Malindo.

Thank you for your input. It's nice to see that there are at least some plans to modernize the fleet. I think no administration will reduce Islamic affairs budget no matter how strong they are. It will be a very low hanging fruit for any opposition party to capitalize on to try and win the next election. I guess that's the price we pay when we mix religion with state affairs.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/21/2022 at 3:24 PM, jahur said:

Firefly will be taking some of MH's aircraft but not all. The good news is they'll be mostly the 737s without the Signature cabin and IFE. Funniest story popping around is one aircraft 9M-FFF would be around til 2027 which is crazy. The ex air berlin had to go as it was the most widely complained aircraft by passengers and crew. Imagine flying on a 10.5hour sector and it has no chiller for salads etc and medical+safety equipment location on all 6 aircrafts are all different.

The 330 replacement all depends on whether MH wants long term gains or immediate gains. The startup required to fly the 330neo is significantly lower with the current 330 ceo crew already having commonality plus the range is also good enough. The 787-9 on the other hand sports better fuel economics and OEW parking charges over the 330neo but conversion training initially might be costly, however there were rumors about that Boeing has agreed to offset some of the initial batches of crew training and has offered physical simulator FOC. The seats vendor for 9abreast have also improved as majority are now offering 17.7-18.0inches width+32inch legroom as standard compared to fix 17inches width years ago. Cockpit functionality itself the a330neo lacks some of the perks already seen installed as standard equipped on post delivered 2005 737NGs. Something airbus has been reluctant to add on the new a320neo +a330neo but has it standard equipped on a350 and a380. The 787 makes more operational sense in the long run.

All in all management, Ops, engineering has a say but the all final decision is actually the Board(How much the msian gov wants to put the unnecessary loopsided national agenda over actual operational requirement) and CEO. In the past over the years any sane strategy has always been overlooked by the Board. While It is said it has these sort of bureaucracy nonsense has improved significantly,Ā  me seeing through 3 different Govs and their motives on handling so many things, this is still decades away. Gov can't even maintain a so called national zoo, national defense asset for air force+navy sovereign are severely ageing overdue but the gov have no issue increasing allocation for Islamic affairs during the pandemic by billions but refuse to do anything with airasia, MAG, Malindo.

Yes, Firefly growth will take place gradually, so quite a lot of the B738 leases would have expired before they are ready to take them. Also MH will not be letting go of their planes until the Max is in place.

As you have pointed out, Malaysian airlines (unlike American and European airlines)Ā did not get any government grants during the pandemic. MH does not have capital right now - all the money Khazanah pledged to them is basically to cover operational expenses. So they will take the lowest capital cost on offer. It would appear that right now, the A330Neo is closest to that objective, plus it will not increase operational costs too much.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...