MAS may seek foreign chief

MAS may seek foreign chief

KUALA LUMPUR: National carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS), which last week posted one of its worst quarterly losses, may hire a foreign managing director to boost its flagging performance, a report said on Saturday.

The company posted a 280.66 million ringgit (US$74 million) net loss in the three months to June, from a profit of 26.58 million ringgit a year ago. Managing director Ahmad Fuaad Dahalan resigned at the same time.

Khazanah Nasional, the government's investment arm and the airline's majority shareholder, is now considering approaching several "big names" from overseas to fill the position, the New Straits Times reported.

Potential candidates the airline may approach included British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington and Qantas executive general manager John Borgetti, the report said, citing an unnamed source.

"The gap between MAS and Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas is widening," the source told the newspaper.

The source was quoted as saying that the airline has many employees with marketing-based talent but that "specific industry talent with an international view is seriously lacking".

The interim management team announced last week includes newcomer Tengku Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz, 34, as executive director and Khazanah's nominee for managing director in the long term.

The report said an expatriate managing director would be expected to cut costs and hold the fort until Tengku Azmil was ready to take over.

After posting the disappointing result, Malaysia Airlines announced an ambitious five-year plan to boost profits by up to 1.0 billion ringgit, including shaking up its management.

The changes are part of a broader government strategy to revamp government-linked companies to make them more competitive, which includes the hiring of international staff. -- AFP