YOURSAY ‘I have lost count the number of times public funds were used to keep MAS afloat, in addition to shareholders seeing their investment going down the drain.'

MAS being 'stripped of wealth', declares MP

LittleGiant: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) can use local labour, it can buy aviation fuel from Petronas and use its own catering services. These alone will not guarantee that MAS will become successful.

The airlines business is highly sophisticated and extremely competitive. It requires high calibre people, especially in its top management who have the ability to think, plan and deliver with extraordinary courage, commitment and speed.

We can keep talking about being patriotic and have the best of the best systems in MAS. But the bottom line for its success is in the dedication and capability of its leadership to deliver as promised - without undue interference or influence from politicians and government leaders, who do not know anything about airline business.

Swipenter: Simple answers to two simple questions:

1. Petron supplying fuel to MAS - it's because Petron partially belongs to the billionaire son of one ex-PM.

2) Catering services also outsourced - it's because the outsourced catering company belongs to the brother/family of another ex-PM.

Vendors using foreign labour to replace Malaysian workers to handle cargo - that I leave it to the CEO of MAS to answer because I don't know why.

But let me guess. Maybe the contract companies belong to some Umno cronies?

Broken Foot: The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has been using foreign labour for a long time now for cleaning and transferring baggage. That question should be posed to Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB).

As far as the jet fuel is concerned, the refinery is located in Port Dickson and is piped to KLIA. It used to be owned and operated by Exxon Mobile. It has since been bought over by Petron.

Therefore, it does not matter who refuels the aircraft, be it Petronas, Shell or Petron or any other oil company, the fuel comes from the same refinery. It is entirely possible that Petron can offer the jet fuel to MAS at a price cheaper than the others can since it owns the fuel.

The MAS catering story is an old one. MAS was 'asked' to sell the catering division to Pak Lah's brother during his administration. They owned the concession for 25 years.

OMG!!: Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad should be careful what cause he is championing.

There is nothing wrong for MAS to outsource if it can be done cheaper, faster and better and that it is not outsourcing to cronies as in the past.

Almost every other airlines and business enterprises is outsourcing for these simple reasons to survive in the cut-throat aviation world.

Bystander: There is need not ponder anymore, just compare MAS (Malaysia Airlines) to SIA (Singapore Airlines) and you will find many answers.

When MSA (Malaysia-Singapore Airlines) was split, Umno didn't think SIA could make it on its own. Today SIA not only makes remarkable profits but also gains global recognition, moving from strength to strength.

So what has our transport minister or the PM got to say about MAS today? Ever so often, the government has to bail out MAS big time.

I remembered SIA was managed by a Malaysian, Cheong Choon Kong, who was largely responsible for its success for many years.

Why did he choose to work for SIA and not MAS, or would he rather be compromised by the crony system practised in Malaysia then and now?

Onyourtoes: Khalid, it is common sense - when the whole company is so inefficiently run and having to take care of multiple vested interests groups, how do you expect the company to survive if not by squeezing the workers even harder.

MAS is a tragic story simply because of jingoism and corruption, nothing else. It is not due to Ahmad Jauhari Yahya or any CEO. Even if you put a sage there, it is not going to work because MAS continued existence is for the cronies to milk the public coffers, not unlike Proton.

I have lost count the number of times public fund was used to keep MAS afloat, in addition to shareholders seeing their investment going down the drain.

Indeed, MAS' problem is not managerial, operational or even strategic.

MAS must be run independently, with zero interference from any quarter. If possible, merge with SIA again, rebrand it as MSA and we shall see passengers, shareholders and government all become happier.

Would PAS do this if in power?

Lionking: MAS can be one of the best run airlines provided it gets the right management and the right people to work and not thieves.

MAS has probably very qualified staff (excluding the top management levels) who can contribute so much to the airline. MAS incurred losses running into millions when they made, if I remember correctly, a change to the cargo hub.

Get the right management team and the airline will do well. Pay the Malaysians well for their good job and there is no need to depend on foreigners to do jobs we Malaysians can do. Even the Ethiopian airline is well run.

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