COMMENT | The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Just after the elections, Air Asia boss Tony Fernandes made a serious charge against the commission, questioning its integrity.

Fernandes claimed that the airline was pressured to cancel an additional 120 flights during the 14th general election period. Mavcom said it viewed the claim seriously and lodged a police report against Fernandes over the allegation.

“The commission has never issued such a directive to any airline, including AirAsia, to reduce or cancel any flight where regulatory requirements have been met,” it said.

Mavcom also said that it had commenced an investigation into the claim. “We will keep members of the public informed,” said a spokesman in a statement on May 14. A police report was also lodged.

Today, more than two weeks later, we have not been informed of the outcome of the investigation. Instead, we are told that the salary of Mavcom’s executive chairperson General (Rtd) Abdullah Ahmad is a whopping RM85,000 – more than four times the salary of the prime minister...