A Thought To Ponder

[Prashant K 0]

Over the past few months, I have been observing threads and post's with regards to MAS. I got to say the majority of them have been about putting down the airline, especially after the sneakbox issue, so I just want to get this point across. I got to say the idea of the sneakbox is brilliant, because it is a way of cutting down costs and any business regardless of category will find the best possible way to cut down costs being in a business is all about the survival of the fittest and the smartest isn't it?

 

I don't understand why people bash the idea of the sneakbox, I really do not understand. At the end of the day the reason we get on a airplane is to get from destination A to destination B, anything that comes with it like food and entertainment is an added bonus. Also, by MAS going back to normal paint scheme is another brilliant idea although I thought as soon as Idris took over he would have done it sooner, saving RM900,000 a year on fuel costs, that is a positive move but everyone was so quick to point out the negative! Why? Why would you point out a problem if you know you do not have a solution for, if not we would all be CEO's of big companies wouldn't we?

 

Once a again its a business, you would do anything within your power to reduce costs wouldn't you It's common sense to save costs! MAS has done well under Idris and its sad to see no one has highlighted how well they have done under him. Its brilliant for a guy with no previous aviation managerial experience to come into a airline in need of help, put in some very intelligent ideas and make money again. All this bashing about sneakbox and paint scheme's is highly unsubstantial. You may argue that I am not an employee of the airline but I think that observations,analyzing and discussions with the more highly regarded member's with more experience one can ever imagine in this forum have led me to believe the true nature of this situation

Edited May 8, 2008 by Prashant K

[Geoff R. 0]

Ultimately customers decide by choosing to fly or not to fly MAS. If a relatively small percentage of people decide not to fly MAS it will hit their current very small profits and they will start loosing money quickly. At the moment it would seem that all the people that criticise MAS's cost cutting decisions are wrong as MAS is making a profit and passenger numbers continue to grow (ableit in a growing market). I have flown MAS seven times so far this year (4 long haul and three short haul) and every time MAS has got me there on time in reasonable comfort at a competitive price. However, when it comes to the overall flying experience in my opinion MAS is not the best. What lets it down in my opinion is the poor quality in flight catering and shabby/old aircraft interiors with poor long haul inflight entertainment system.

 

With new aircraft coming along in a few years time and more attention to the catering maybe MAS can become THE BEST airline.

 

Geoff

 

[jani 0]

With rumors flying around that MAS will purchase 77W's and buy back MAS Catering, hopefully your complaints will be addressed.

[Wilber Tan 0]

u r right that we get onboard with only an objective that is to get to one destination from another.

but to be a clever passenger, we do have to take concern about comfort and services and the amount we pay for them and dertemine whether it is worth it onot.

 

Either fare or tax, surely we have to pay more for mas than airasia and because of this, passenger is expecting things to be much better than airasia.

so ofcoz when they recieve news saying tad mas is serving snackbox which barely able to fill up their stomach, for sure they feel dissapointed.

 

and surely they will comment on it! PLS note tad they have the right to do so.

and i think this is to prevent mas from taking furthur action which maybe they even cancel snackbox leaving nothing to feed u up..

 

iam sure mas take good concern on this issue. they too doesnt want to over do it. they know passenger is switching to airasia leaving only gov travelling on mas.

 

and now they offer so much low fare to attract passenger.

[Azman MN 1]

actually when I think about the type of on board service airlines in Europe and US provide, MH's snekbok is actually pretty good. However, when compared to the airlines in the same region as MH, such as CX or SQ, then the snekboks is obviously not up to scratch. A european passenger flying MH into KL, connecting to regional flights would even have a positive impression of the snekbok, but only if he/she is blissfully unaware about the products of MH's main competitors.

 

I agree that the snekbok is a good way of reducing cost. However, the problem is that, it has the impact of downgrading the front-end service as well. Downgrading the service means that passengers would be more willing to jump ship. I am sure that MH could have found other ways to cut cost without affecting the front-end service. In the long-term, cost-cutting that affects front-end service will have a negative impact because you will lose passengers.

 

Compare this to the car industry. The VW group had various brands such as VW, Audi, Skoda and Bentley. The way they cut cost is hidden from their customers, i.e, shared chasis, engine parts, etc. What the customers see is the superficial bit outside, but that is all that matters. I heard a story about the delivery of the first few units of a Bentley model, they invited celebrities such as Mr. Beckham, et al to a special ceremony to hand out the keys. They made a big mistake - the key itself looks exactly like the key of a normal VW car (which looks the same as the Audi, skoda and seat keys). So these luxury car customers were a bit annoyed as having spent GBP100k++ on the car, they expected something more luxurious or fancy like a remote control or something. They didn't really care if the chasis of the car and engines are "cost-saved" and the same as the cheaper VWs because they could not see it, but that key thing was really a damper.

This is how I see it. Cost saving is something that should be done in the back-end behind the scene, and not in such an obvious manner in the front-end service.

 

 

Are you sure that MH's passenger count has increased? I recall in the BTP2 discussions that passenger numbers have actually gone down.

 

A few years ago, it is hard to notice the difference between SQ and MH in Y class. Now the difference is really stark. Right from the drinks service to the menu cards, to the food trays. The difference is now too apparent, and any neutral passenger can now see that MH is not in the same league as SQ. If ticket prices were the same....

 

I really wonder why MH finds it difficult to find other ways to cut costs, when it should have the much lower cost base in Malaysia?

 

 

[Ignatius 4]

Aha....I've pounded before.. not going to ponder over these.. it's endless.. just one thought though, you, me, the people beside us are all entirely different people with their own sets of personal thoughts and minds.. So its pretty obvious Ying and Yang exists in everything .. Hey.. for once I myself do like the SNAKE-BOX(the box only) its nice..(the box only)

I got a bad feeling this very subthread is going to be another heated battle.. mods.. if things gets worst.. hit the red button ahha

Edited May 8, 2008 by Ignatius

[Mushrif A 3]

[...] I got to say the majority of them have been about putting down the airline, especially after the sneakbox issue, so I just want to get this point across. I got to say the idea of the sneakbox is brilliant, because it is a way of cutting down costs and any business regardless of category will find the best possible way to cut down costs being in a business is all about the survival of the fittest and the smartest isn't it?

 

I don't understand why people bash the idea of the sneakbox, I really do not understand. At the end of the day the reason we get on a airplane is to get from destination A to destination B, anything that comes with it like food and entertainment is an added bonus. [...]

 

The sneakbox (sic) is very much incongruent with the 5-star-airline mantra, repeated and reminded to the travelling public just recently in various media by the CEO himself. Short-term, it looks good (albeit a small positive impact) on the numbers, but I think there's a long term deterioration to the brand equity. Whenever possible, I have avoided MH as I don't want to be short-changed and do not feel comfortable feeling cheated. I have educated friends and relatives on this and have recommended that they choose alternatives to MH - which many have done so and will continue to do so.

 

And talking about alternatives, the airline service of today is a lot more than merely an A to B lingkage. You know very well that there are choices out there in the marketplace. Brushing aside frills as merely added bonuses is ignoring reality. Astute consumers tend to prefer an airline that gives more bang for their buck. The best value for money will get their custom. Hence, the very reason why masses flock to MH with its zero fare offers and concurrently, AK having a relatively quiet sales period.

 

There may be some who just fly on MH simply because it is MH, sneakbox (sic) or no sneakbox (sic). And I reckon many of these consumers wouldn't know (or even care about) the difference between an A330 and a 772. But you will be hard-pressed to find such folks here in MW.

[KK Lee 5]

 

When a hotel claimed to be 5 star, we expect the room, bath room, facility, lobby and breakfast, the total experience to be at par or better with its 5 star peers.

 

While other 4 and 5 star hotels are serving nice buffet for breakfast. Who won’t complaint if paying premium to stay at 5 star hotel and was served snackbox for breakfast? May be those guests don’t take breakfast in the morning. No one can stop the hotel management to cut cost by serving snackbox for breakfast. But how many guests will return to stay with this hotel?

 

It is funny that other 4 and 5 star hotels are having close to 80% occupancy rate and adding more rooms. But this very popular, very successful, very wonderful, very healthy hotel can offer up to 30% of the rooms for free stay.

 

 

Believe the moment MH stop proclaiming to be a 5 star airline, complaint on the snackbox will diminish.

 

 

 

[Ignatius 4]

Poor snake-box...I really like snake-box (box only not content) Just look at what these people are saying about u..

[jani 0]

Take for example, you made a movie, but because of budget concerns and what not, you did not like the end product but still had to release it.

 

Suddenly, you were awarded an Oscar or two.

 

What are you going to do? Are you going to say "Don't watch this movie, its actually not good."

 

Or are you going to say "Come watch my movie, we were awarded an Oscar"?

 

Its simple as that really.

[Ignatius 4]

Let it be la bro's whatever MH is doing now, let them climb their own hills and mountains.. There's really nothing to ponder about this old topic! All i want to say is the snake-box is nice (box only)

[Mushrif A 3]

Take for example, you made a movie, but because of budget concerns and what not, you did not like the end product but still had to release it.

 

Suddenly, you were awarded an Oscar or two.

 

What are you going to do? Are you going to say "Don't watch this movie, its actually not good."

 

Or are you going to say "Come watch my movie, we were awarded an Oscar"?

 

Its simple as that really.

 

Did you know that the Oscar that you won ("[...] you were awarded an Oscar or two.") was actually for another movie that you produced earlier, not the one that was hit by budget constraints and actually tanked at the box-office? And there are whispers that those judges who dished out the Oscars to you, may have been on your payroll?

 

[MH star ranking for its economy short-haul products (including snackboxes) only scored mostly 3-stars. Skytrax is a consultancy firm that accepts fees from airlines et al that retains its services]

 

Ever heard about that "award-winning chef"? Well, the only award that the chef has ever won was for a colouring contest back in kindergarten.

 

 

 

[jani 0]

Thats not my point.

 

My point is that Skytrax, who are supposedly the most well known award-disher out there, gives you a 5-star ranking, don't you use it?

 

It does not matter how they get the award, but the fact is that they have it and they should exploit it while they still can.

[KK Lee 5]

Skytrax, who are supposedly the most well known award-disher out there

 

MH marketing department have certainly done themselves proud. Skytrax is also known as skytrash and other airlines like SQ don’t even bother to quote awards from them.

 

 

the fact is that they have it and they should exploit it while they still can.

 

Can be misleading and that’s why it is drawing freaks

 

[Azman MN 1]

I got to say the idea of the sneakbox is brilliant, because it is a way of cutting down costs and any business regardless of category will find the best possible way to cut down costs being in a business is all about the survival of the fittest and the smartest isn't it?

 

It is true, survival of the fittest and smartest. But the smart company will reduce cost without diminishing the quality of their product and hurting their clients. The smartest company will reduce cost and use the cost saving to upgrade their product, which will attract even more clients. A company's internal cost is its internal problem. It should not be the clients' problem.

 

I work in a financial services company. I have clients. We are constantly under pressure to cut costs. We do a lot of things to cut costs such as travelling in economy class for regional flights, or where possible, use videoconference instead. We outsource our accounting office to Bangalore. We hire part-time university students to do data entry so that the more qualified staff can concentrate on more value added work. We spend millions on new IT systems so that we save multiples of millions. We squeeze in 8 desks into office rooms where there were 6 desks previously. We replaced the company cars with cars with smaller engines, or diesel engines or hybrids. The office canteen manager now has access to our electronic agendas so that they can estimate how many employees are outstation for the day, so that there is less food wastage.

 

We can do many different things to save costs, but we would never give our clients an inferior product! Our competition will make a killing if we do. Cost cutting should not be our clients' problem! In fact, the more we save, the more we can spend to improve our product and therefore, become more competitive.

 

[Ken M. 0]

Very well said Azman.

IJ, are you listening?

Inferior catering, reducing seat pitch on long haul will drive clients to other airlines.

Ditch this 5* value nonsense and behave like a proper quality airline once again.

 

[Kenneth T 0]

Very well said Azman.

IJ, are you listening?

Inferior catering, reducing seat pitch on long haul will drive clients to other airlines.

Ditch this 5* value nonsense and behave like a proper quality airline once again.

 

I agreed...with u, that will only drive the passengers away from MH.

[BC Tam 2]

..... but the fact is that they have it and they should exploit it while they still can.

Yup, principle should be applicable universally

If you've got it, flaunt it ; before it gets all saggy, buldgy and wrinkley

Proper care and maintenance should extend period of bragging rights though

[LeeCH 0]

SQ also cut cost. But no snack boxes. KUL sector 40 mins wheels up to wheels down, J class also got proper meals with plating. CGK and BKK got choices of hot meals as well. And when pax do not get their choices, they demand ridiculous things as compensation. Hiz, when SQ cut cost, who suffers?? No comment no comment.

[Mushrif A 3]

And the fact that this issue of snackboxes keep coming up on MW demonstrates just how much MH has alienated its target market, especially the discerning consumers. I would say this particular cost-cutting exercise may have been the brainchild of a myopic accountant, failing to recognise that the traditional hot meal (especially on board a much-publicised-5-star carrier in Asia) is a bastion of a good economy class product.

 

SQ also cut cost. But no snack boxes. KUL sector 40 mins wheels up to wheels down, J class also got proper meals with plating.

 

On MH on the same route in J, the pax gets virtually the same finger sandwic (sic) that would have gone into the "sandwic sub-box" of the Y snackboxes. But at least, on a plate. The previous hot savouries are dearly missed.

 

[Wilber Tan 0]

Let it be la bro's whatever MH is doing now, let them climb their own hills and mountains.. There's really nothing to ponder about this old topic! All i want to say is the snake-box is nice (box only)

 

icic...

did u take any one home??

how much u collected??

[Ignatius 4]

icic...

did u take any one home??

how much u collected??

 

Off course one only lah.. having more means i like MH so much.. which i am staying away from.. except from the snakebox(Box only) hahaha...

[Prashant K 0]

I speak strictly from a business point of view and not as a passenger and my post was from a business a view

 

There are 2 views to consider here, one from a business point and the other from the passenger's view. From a business point its a very positive move to cut costs. From the passenger's view some see it as negative because no hot meals, some really can't be bothered so they accept what they get. Now, I made my post entirely from a business point of view with a view that Idris has done a good job, but nobody seems to agree. You tell me, do you think the previous CEO's could have done better or would they have just gone on exploiting their benefits? Do you think someone else could have done a better job? The airline industry is a tough industry,it so easy to come up with the problem in a millisecond but probably a light year to come up with the solution.

 

I salute Idris for the job he has done and I do not think anyone else in the country could have done a better job because he is one of the few CEO's that actually had belief in his ideas and stood up for it no matter how much bashing he got for it and that goes a very long way which is why I think Idris makes one hell of a CEO

 

[LeeCH 0]

Other airlines are also doing business. Other airlines are also finding ways to cut costs. But they never give snack boxes. And they are doing very well at it.

[Ignatius 4]

I agree LeeCH..