MAS Privatisation

[jahur 0]

4 hours ago, flee said:

If that is the case, the current A330F fleet will be a small sub fleet of 3 and the maintenance cost of the PW engines might increase when the pax fleet is phased out.

Not mistaken the PW equipped a330 have lower commercial payload+range. The plus side was the maintenance cost package. Apart from that the current 3 A332F with lower mtow cant do AMS direct(beyond 20 tonne commercial payload) as they're not equipped with external fuel tanks unlike the 6 pax version from ex air berlin.

For now there is no indication if the current a330ceos can fully exit the fleet by 2027-2029. This solely relies on the additional 20 optional slots for the a330-900 that MAG has yet to firmed anything. The worse case scenario in play is MH not firming anything past the 20 frames means it has to retain a small fleet of a330ceo due network requirement. The old plan was them to have at least 33 widebody but now it seems the CEO is hinting them needing between 35-40.

The old MH A330-300 9M-MT series was an order for 15 firm and 10 optional. But the airline just took 15 at the end. The 1990s B777 orders were also changed along the way with i believe some of them expressing interest in the 300ER project before the A380 was pushed instead by the early 2000s.

[sweekee 0]

20 minutes ago, jahur said:

For now there is no indication if the current a330ceos can fully exit the fleet by 2027-2029. 

From customer vision no matter it's brand new or second hand,please refurbished the cabin as well.Look at the CX ancient 773 for example 

[jahur 0]

20 minutes ago, sweekee said:

From customer vision no matter it's brand new or second hand,please refurbished the cabin as well.Look at the CX ancient 773 for example 

Except an old aircraft will result in maintenance cost climbing and will require many tinkering to keep it at pristine condition no matter how many take off and landing cycles mileage it has. Even spare parts stocking at MAG is very low now and u have very low manpower plus low morale from the engineering team. Frontline cabin crews still being paid RM1.5k basic in 2024. So am not sure how the CEO claims MH is on its way to fight with SQ on the BFM interview lol when a lot of things behind the scenes are inadequate.  The profit it has may probably be only there for short term at the current trajectory of how this country is running and taking everything for granted.

[flee 5]

3 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

MH's A332F are now at abt 13 years old, ain't spring chicken any more. They should be planning for its replacement since the lead time for new fleet is very long now. A350F is sold out till 2026.

13 years is considered young for a freighter - just look at Raya's 40 year old 767s!

It should be OK if they put in orders for the A350F for delivery in 3 or 4 years. They can also consider putting in orders for A330 P2Fs. It looks like MASkargo is a little neglected at the moment.

[BC Tam 2]

10 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

PW-engine A330P2F is not desirable in the P2F market though, majority of those converted ones are RR--powered. They are only three PW-engine A330P2F in the market (one ex-LTU, ex-TG, one ex-MH) and those are in MSN100+/200+ range.

This is gonna be way OT, but A330P2F do exist then ?

Do they have the side cargo door retro fitted ?

As I understand it, the A330 was not seriously a candidate for freighter conversion previously due to the forward dipping incline of its fuselage. That also being reason for the 'double chin' profile of the A332F

So how have they managed to overcome this, if at all ?

Tq for insight 😀

[JuliusWong 0]

11 hours ago, BC Tam said:

This is gonna be way OT, but A330P2F do exist then ?

Do they have the side cargo door retro fitted ?

As I understand it, the A330 was not seriously a candidate for freighter conversion previously due to the forward dipping incline of its fuselage. That also being reason for the 'double chin' profile of the A332F

So how have they managed to overcome this, if at all ?

Tq for insight 😀

Yes, the A330P2F has been in existence since 2012, a collaboration between ST Aerospace, Airbus and their joint venture EFW. The main conversion site is Dresden, Germany. Another site is Shanghai, China in JV with Shanghai Technologies Aerospace Company. The third site will be in Istanbul, Turkey JV with Turkish Technic.

Currently Dresden site is mainly converting those HNA Group's brand new A330-300 which they did not take delivery due to financial issue, ex-Thai Airways A330-300 and some others. The site in Shanghai is converting those A330-300 airframes used by China-based airlines. The big three + HNA Group collectively operate more than 200 A330ceo family. That is a lot of feedstock for the conversion line.

To answer your question, yes it has a side cargo door retrofitted just before the 2L door, plugged door and windows and also strengthened ribs and floor.

In order to counter the "slanting" A330 issue, Airbus created a fully-powered Cargo Loading System (CLS) that is capable of loading/unloading even the heaviest pallets even if the aircraft on "tilt" for A330P2F.

Currently there are 37 A330P2F (13 A332P2F and 24 A333P2F) flying now or currently undergoing conversion, with around 30 in the pipeline for conversion.

Edited January 31 by JuliusWong

[flee 5]

Yes, there is a lot of A330 feedstock in China. This one is ex-China Southern:

9H-VDC GALISTAIR MALTA AIRBUS A330-343(P2F)

[JuliusWong 0]

16 hours ago, flee said:

13 years is considered young for a freighter - just look at Raya's 40 year old 767s!

It should be OK if they put in orders for the A350F for delivery in 3 or 4 years. They can also consider putting in orders for A330 P2Fs. It looks like MASkargo is a little neglected at the moment.

Unfortunately the newer aircraft are not built for high cycle and utilisation rate compared to the older generation aircraft. Heck, we even have 10 years old A321/A330 went for scrappers, no thanks to the high production rate by both Airbus and Boeing for newer gen aircraft. 

On the MASKargo, it is a sad case. They have been neglected for the past decade. I remember once they were one of the biggest Asian air cargo carrier, up there with CX, KE, BR, SQ and OZ. Those days when they had at least six B742F, two B744 and the sole A300B4.

[Pall 0]

22 hours ago, jahur said:

Except an old aircraft will result in maintenance cost climbing and will require many tinkering to keep it at pristine condition no matter how many take off and landing cycles mileage it has. Even spare parts stocking at MAG is very low now and u have very low manpower plus low morale from the engineering team. Frontline cabin crews still being paid RM1.5k basic in 2024. So am not sure how the CEO claims MH is on its way to fight with SQ on the BFM interview lol when a lot of things behind the scenes are inadequate.  The profit it has may probably be only there for short term at the current trajectory of how this country is running and taking everything for granted.

Heard from MH staff that there were promised payrise in late 2023 from some internal townhall but till date its all empty talks. 

[flee 5]

1 hour ago, Pall said:

Heard from MH staff that there were promised payrise in late 2023 from some internal townhall but till date its all empty talks. 

I think all GLCs are like that - townhalls are just PR exercises. GLC managements tend to employ consultants (who do not know the business well) and blindly implement  their advice without giving much thought. I suppose they are too blur to manage the business.

You see cycles of centralisation and decentralisation of units.  Not so long ago, all the MAG units were centralised in one company, now they are separate businesses. And now there is some talk about merging some units again in the interest of economies of scale and efficiency. So we have done a 360 turnaround again.

The top management gets paid fat salaries and allowances and they stand on top of the ordinary workers' shoulders. Is it any wonder that employees are disillusioned?

Edited January 31 by flee

[BC Tam 2]

9 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

To answer your question, yes it has a side cargo door retrofitted just before the 2L door, plugged door and windows and also strengthened ribs and floor.

.....

In order to counter the "slanting" A330 issue, Airbus created a fully-powered Cargo Loading System (CLS) that is capable of loading/unloading even the heaviest pallets even if the aircraft on "tilt" for A330P2F

Many thanks 😀

So it wasn't just the 'misalignment' between the bottom part of the side cargo door and the pallet loaders, which I assume there must have been a solution devised 😄

[sweekee 0]

4 hours ago, Pall said:

Heard from MH staff that there were promised payrise in late 2023 from some internal townhall but till date its all empty talks. 

1.5K is ridiculous,even 4K hard to survive nowadays .

[JuliusWong 0]

On 1/30/2024 at 5:43 PM, sweekee said:

From customer vision no matter it's brand new or second hand, please refurbished the cabin as well.Look at the CX ancient 773 for example 

Based on what we have experienced with MH all these years, MH will not invest big money in fleet which are leaving. MH will run the fleet down till bare bones.

[sweekee 0]

9 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

Based on what we have experienced with MH all these years, MH will not invest big money in fleet which are leaving. MH will run the fleet down till bare bones.

Not only that,even their new product always 1 or 2 generation behind competitors.Take a look A339 business class,no wow factor just a common thing that rolled out before covid.

[flee 5]

14 minutes ago, sweekee said:

Not only that,even their new product always 1 or 2 generation behind competitors.Take a look A339 business class,no wow factor just a common thing that rolled out before covid.

MH is not a leading edge airline and they are trying to save some money by using older cabin products. The rationale is probably like this: even if you are an early adopter of leading edge products, they will soon become normal because other airlines will use them too. So might as well save some money and not take the expensive new products!

[Chris Tan 0]

There's nothing wrong with using off-the-shelf products. Few airlines design their very own products as it's a very expensive process, and even then they're not guaranteed to be good. SQ's custom-made J (both the A359LH/ULR and A380 versions) might be unique but far from the best. They even use generic products on the 738, 7M8, 787 and 359MH.

Their J product just needs to be competitive, not revolutionary.

[KK Lee 5]

Neither mas shareholders, bod or management have vision or commitment beyond 5 years horizon.

What need to be done is political unacceptable. Hence, unlikely to change or improve anytime soon.

[KK Lee 5]

On 1/31/2024 at 6:16 PM, flee said:

I think all GLCs are like that - townhalls are just PR exercises. GLC managements tend to employ consultants (who do not know the business well) and blindly implement  their advice without giving much thought. I suppose they are too blur to manage the business.

You see cycles of centralisation and decentralisation of units.  Not so long ago, all the MAG units were centralised in one company, now they are separate businesses. And now there is some talk about merging some units again in the interest of economies of scale and efficiency. So we have done a 360 turnaround again.

The top management gets paid fat salaries and allowances and they stand on top of the ordinary workers' shoulders. Is it any wonder that employees are disillusioned?

Con-sultan is often appointed to justify management unpopular decision or policy. Blame would be on con-sultan rather than the management.

[JuliusWong 0]

19 hours ago, Chris Tan said:

There's nothing wrong with using off-the-shelf products. Few airlines design their very own products as it's a very expensive process, and even then they're not guaranteed to be good. SQ's custom-made J (both the A359LH/ULR and A380 versions) might be unique but far from the best. They even use generic products on the 738, 7M8, 787 and 359MH.

Their J product just needs to be competitive, not revolutionary.

This! Reminds me of SQ's previous rendition of the purple SpaceBed. It was revolutionary when it was launched. SQ locked their competitors out for several years, until it found its way to PK's J class and BI's B767 J class. Yet pax complained abt sleeping in slanting mode. LOL. Joke aside, unless you are SQ which can demand exclusivity and work with high end designer BMW Group DesignworksUSA , beggars cannot be chosers. Just pick anything from the shelf, slap some songket on it and be over and done with. The supply chain constraints at OEM are now at a very critical stage and there is a huge backlog. Any more customsation will make it even worse. LH is now parking their brand new B787 cause their OEM is now making their new J class Allegris fast enough.

If you can't win on hard products, just make sure your soft products are damn good. Service delivery and recovery is something that MH can set itself apart from the others. Flight cancellation, and delay management can be much better. 

On 1/31/2024 at 9:26 PM, sweekee said:

1.5K is ridiculous, even 4K hard to survive nowadays .

Yes, with the living cost hiking exponentially, even the Singaporeans find it hard to survive in their own country. A lot of them are now staying in Johor and take a daily ride to work in SG.

MH junior cabin crew's pay starts with the minimum wage back in 2019 if I can recall well. Did an interview with an ex-cabin crew before when she applied to my ex-employer. How would you survive with minimum wage with limited international route network, even with that you only have 24 hours layover. Some cabin crew supplement their income by helping their friends and relatives buy overseas stuff. You need to do this discreetly, else you will be called for disciplinary action. But I don't blame them for doing so. CX has poached quite a number of MH cabin crew recently (not that CX is the best place to work now, but CX is desperate now to scale up their operation. CX is also poaching SQ, DD, XJ, FD, TG, SL crew), SQ poaching MH is given but I think they have stopped now post pandemic they have enough crew for the moment. Many MH senior and well-seasoned engineers have left too in recent years. Middle East, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong are just a short flight away. It is not a wonder MH is losing talent left, right and center. 

Come later this year EK will be doing global hiring spree, the situation will get even worse. The woe will continue as airlines placed a collective 3,408 new net orders last year. I sure hope MH has a good talent game plan for next ten years. On the other side of the debate, we would be asking ourselves how much is enough is enough. The ME3 can afford to pay five figures salary with almost all free medical, accommodation and education for their staff, can MAG afford to do so? ME3 also rely on cheap labours from India subcontinent for behind the scene operation. Will MAG able to do so? 

[JuliusWong 0]

15 hours ago, KK Lee said:

Con-sultan is often appointed to justify management unpopular decision or policy. Blame would be on con-sultan rather than the management.

Hahaha, lol...Well, thanks for Goldman Sachs con-sultants we are paying USD13billion interest on something now. We haven't even tough the principal yet. They are for their own pockets. That's the main reason I never and will never respect any con-sultant. MH has a lot of internal talent in the past, the management just did not utilise them well, sadly.

[JuliusWong 0]

On 1/30/2024 at 6:10 PM, jahur said:

Except an old aircraft will result in maintenance cost climbing and will require many tinkering to keep it at pristine condition no matter how many take off and landing cycles mileage it has. Even spare parts stocking at MAG is very low now and u have very low manpower plus low morale from the engineering team. Frontline cabin crews still being paid RM1.5k basic in 2024. So am not sure how the CEO claims MH is on its way to fight with SQ on the BFM interview lol when a lot of things behind the scenes are inadequate.  The profit it has may probably be only there for short term at the current trajectory of how this country is running and taking everything for granted.

I find the interview a bit of a joke. Two years to be five-stars airline?? I want that thing he is smoking. To be one it takes more than a new fleet, having just B737MAX-8 and A330neo just won't cut it.

[flee 5]

24 minutes ago, JuliusWong said:

I find the interview a bit of a joke. Two years to be five-stars airline?? I want that thing he is smoking. To be one it takes more than a new fleet, having just B737MAX-8 and A330neo just won't cut it.

He is saying it because he won't be around anymore after this year. So there is no need for him to find excuses...

[Pall 0]

1 hour ago, JuliusWong said:

This! Reminds me of SQ's previous rendition of the purple SpaceBed. It was revolutionary when it was launched. SQ locked their competitors out for several years, until it found its way to PK's J class and BI's B767 J class. Yet pax complained abt sleeping in slanting mode. LOL. Joke aside, unless you are SQ which can demand exclusivity and work with high end designer BMW Group DesignworksUSA , beggars cannot be chosers. Just pick anything from the shelf, slap some songket on it and be over and done with. The supply chain constraints at OEM are now at a very critical stage and there is a huge backlog. Any more customsation will make it even worse. LH is now parking their brand new B787 cause their OEM is now making their new J class Allegris fast enough.

If you can't win on hard products, just make sure your soft products are damn good. Service delivery and recovery is something that MH can set itself apart from the others. Flight cancellation, and delay management can be much better. 

Yes, with the living cost hiking exponentially, even the Singaporeans find it hard to survive in their own country. A lot of them are now staying in Johor and take a daily ride to work in SG.

MH junior cabin crew's pay starts with the minimum wage back in 2019 if I can recall well. Did an interview with an ex-cabin crew before when she applied to my ex-employer. How would you survive with minimum wage with limited international route network, even with that you only have 24 hours layover. Some cabin crew supplement their income by helping their friends and relatives buy overseas stuff. You need to do this discreetly, else you will be called for disciplinary action. But I don't blame them for doing so. CX has poached quite a number of MH cabin crew recently (not that CX is the best place to work now, but CX is desperate now to scale up their operation. CX is also poaching SQ, DD, XJ, FD, TG, SL crew), SQ poaching MH is given but I think they have stopped now post pandemic they have enough crew for the moment. Many MH senior and well-seasoned engineers have left too in recent years. Middle East, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong are just a short flight away. It is not a wonder MH is losing talent left, right and center. 

Come later this year EK will be doing global hiring spree, the situation will get even worse. The woe will continue as airlines placed a collective 3,408 new net orders last year. I sure hope MH has a good talent game plan for next ten years. On the other side of the debate, we would be asking ourselves how much is enough is enough. The ME3 can afford to pay five figures salary with almost all free medical, accommodation and education for their staff, can MAG afford to do so? ME3 also rely on cheap labours from India subcontinent for behind the scene operation. Will MAG able to do so? 

SQ is extensively hiring every month post Covid, almost 50 ex-MH crew joined the last few batches.

[JuliusWong 0]

23 minutes ago, Pall said:

SQ is extensively hiring every month post Covid, almost 50 ex-MH crew joined the last few batches.

Yes indeed sadly, but this has since stopped because SQ stated during their last financial quarter announcement with the media they have enough crew and had recruited enough to make up for the headcount shortfall they cut during the pandemic. On a flip side, SQ is also facing high turnover rate among their cabin crew. SQ has an enduring love for MH crew since Day 1 when Singapore and Malaysia went separate way. That's show how good MH trains its cabin crew! 

[jahur 0]

3 hours ago, JuliusWong said:

Come later this year EK will be doing global hiring spree, the situation will get even worse. The woe will continue as airlines placed a collective 3,408 new net orders last year. I sure hope MH has a good talent game plan for next ten years. On the other side of the debate, we would be asking ourselves how much is enough is enough. The ME3 can afford to pay five figures salary with almost all free medical, accommodation and education for their staff, can MAG afford to do so? ME3 also rely on cheap labours from India subcontinent for behind the scene operation. Will MAG able to do so? 

Recently Riyadh has started their own poaching. CX months ago saw the signs and hit the pannick button cause they also experienced massive amount of crew leaving. BOD on swire group and etc out of spite then allowed a massive hike for the tech crew pays but it will affect the financials. Capts now taking back almost 80K usd monthly with 80-90ish duty high hours and the FO's also getting a hike that almost matches with the gulfs. Next coming months Air India(Post Vistara) will also start their tour around Asean and the oriental region. Few carriers in Mainland China have also reported started to adjust the payscale to avoid massive exodus as a response.

Those countries at the ME3 their flying schools have very low uptake which is sad. Flying or being a cabin crew is not a a career their locals look highly upon(well given how shitty air travel is nowadays they have a point as well). The airlines over there with the help from their respective gov's have to offset part of it hiring massive amount of expats and foreigners and giving high salaries.

 

Edited February 2 by jahur