Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad wants to know whether Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) will be buying Airbus or Boeing aircraft or both in the near future.
Citing Flight International, a magazine focused on aviation, the former prime minister pointed to a report in its Aug 15-21 issue on MAS' decision to buy A350-900 Airbus aircraft to replace its A380 Airbus aircraft.
MAS chief operations officer Izham Ismail is quoted as saying that "there will be major benefits from the aircraft switch."
"In the reports in Flight International, MAS is scheduled to take six A350-900s from Air Lease, with the first two arriving by year-end," Mahathir said in a blog post today.
However, Mahathir noted how Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had told US President Donald Trump during his visit to the US that MAS would buy 58 Boeing aircraft worth US$10 billion.
The deal includes the purchase of several Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which Mahathir noted was a competitor to the Airbus A350-900.
"Is MAS going to buy Airbus A350-900 or Boeing 787 Dreamliners, or both?
"Was there a decision made by MAS to buy the 58 Boeings, or was this a personal decision by Najib as a bribe to get a photo opportunity with Trump?"
'Where are these planes going to fly to?'
Mahathir wondered whether the possible purchase of 64 Boeing and Airbus aircraft was part of MAS' plan.
"Where are these planes going to fly to? Must be a lot of new destinations.
"Although there were reports that MAS had agreed to the purchase of these huge number of aircraft, it doesn’t speak well of the management to suddenly expand its routes.
"Or is MAS trying to please the PM at the expense of commercial wisdom?"
MAS, Mahathir further pointed out, cannot even "get rid" of its six Airbus A380s, which are hardly being used.
"All these will affect MAS’ bottom line. Are we going to see another round of failures of the national airlines?"
Najib, during the meeting with Trump earlier this month, said that MAS was committed to purchase 25 planes of Boeing's 737 MAX 10 and eight 787 Dreamliners.
"And there is a strong probability – not possibility – probability that we will add 25 more 737 MAX 10 in the near future. So within five years, the deal will be worth beyond US$10 billion," Najib was quoted as saying during the meeting.
News reports have since stated that MAS will not be financing the 16 new Boeing aircraft bought from the US aviation company.
The Malaysian Reserve had quoted MAS CEO Peter Bellew as saying that large global leasing firms and lenders will instead purchase the aircraft, and then lease the planes to MAS on an operating sale and leaseback agreement.
