By: William Ching Wui Oon (Guest Blogger)

This article by William Ching Wui Oon extracted from: https://upperclass.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/the-old-new-mh-those-were-the-days-sultan-abdul-aziz-shah-kuala-lumpur-subang-international-airport-wmsa/

Walk Down Memory Lane to the Old Subang Kuala Lumpur International Airport also known as Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang. During my younger days, when my Dad first started working with Malaysia Airlines, he used to bring me to Subang Airport to view the magnificent aircrafts and during those days, MAS had many Boeing 747-200, Boeing 737-200, Airbus A300's and DC-10-30's.

There was also a time when British Airways Concorde landed at Subang Airport and it was parked at the Terminal 2 apron. If I remember correctly, MAS aircraft in the days... the first class seats were red in color and the surrounding walls in the aircraft were filled with flower designs.

Anyway... I thought it would be good to have this on Blog for our old Subang Airport and where we were back then...

Its good to remember where we come from and how time has changed the way we look today as compared to the days behind us, and how the changes have evolved since…

Below are some pictures of the OLD Malaysian Airlines System aircraft (Red and White):

The Old MAS Airbus A300-200 (Captured in Hong Kong)

The Old MAS Boeing 747-236B 9M-MHI (powered by Rolls Royce) – taking off from LAX

Old MAS DC-10-30 (9M-MAT) – Captured in Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport

As time went by, the OLD MAS made a new change of colors resembling the Malaysian Flag (Red and Blue) as shown above on the Boeing 737-200 Series.

Images of the Old Subang Kuala Lumpur International Airport (WMSA) which has been demolished now:

The Old Subang Kuala Lumpur International Airport also Main Hub to Malaysian Airlines System or MH

The Old Subang Kuala Lumpur International Airport – Departure Hall (Terminal 1)

The Old Subang Kuala Lumpur International Airport – Outside View of Terminal 1

The Old First Class on the MAS Boeing 747-300/400 Series

The Newer First Class Seats on the Boeing 747-400 Series

The Newer First Class Seats on the Boeing 777-200 Series

And all the above First Class Seats have been replaced with the Newly Designed & Current Seats:

The All New First Class Seats, and only available on the Boeing 747-400 Series. Although it has been introduced into the Boeing 747-400 Series since 2005 and back then only the premier 9M-MPB and 9M-MPD were the only ones that were fitted with the new seating as the 2 Boeing 747-400 were MH’s new Hibiscus Design Aircraft. (Seen Below)

These 2 aircrafts were later then stripped of its new paint jobs during MH’s worst Financial Times. They were never introduced back and they are currently using the standard design.

Also, the Business Class Seats were replaced with newly design seats that were introduced in the Newly Design Heliconia Boeing 777-200 Series and the only Aircraft available was the 9M-MRD also known as Freedom of Space!

The New Business Class Seats are currently being used in all Boeing 747-400's and Boeing 777-200's. And the current configuration for the Boeing 777-200 does not include First Class anymore and it’s only available as Business Class

The Current Malaysian Airline Aircraft Body Design

And last, but not least … a view of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport – Subang Kuala Lumpur’s Runway 15 Aerial View & Exit Passport Chop at SZB.

CheersJ

By: Rosni Ta'ee (Malaysia Airlines, Miri)

MD arrives Miri via twin otter

Upon arrival, MD was greeted by MASwings, GM Operations, En. Wan Abdul Rahim and Senior Management staff  

On 11Oct 2009, our MD, Dato Tengku  Azmil Zaharuddin went down to Miri on his Turun Padang session.  He was accompanied by MASwings MD, En. Salleh Ahmad Tabrani and GM Human Resources, Tuan Hj. Mohamed Yusof.  On the arrival, they were met by GM Operation En. Wan Abd Rahim and MH/MW Senior Management staff.

MASwings 2nd Anniversary cake

Cake cutting

Townhall session

Brief presentation on MASwings

Q & A session

Sape Momento from Miri

In the evening, he had a dialogue with the staff to deliver the first hand information in regard to Airlines performance (Townhall cascade) to the staff themselves.  He embarked on BTP2 and MH as a World’s Five Star Value Carrier, steering on MH campaign: Serve Customer, Make Money & Save Money.

Mingling with staff session

Airport Operations staff

The beauties behind the scene

High table

Joget by Airport Operations

Million smiles of oneMH

MD having a taste of terap fruit

It was then followed by the dinner cum Raya gathering. As this was his first visit to Miri after being appointed as MD, he was impressed with the turnout and it really showed our spirit of OneMH.

Visit to Miri Airport Operations

Weighing scale for bodyweight Twin Otter Svcs.

“YM Tengku, it is a memorable day for all of us in MYY”

By: Ng Soo Peng (Network and Revenue Management)

Hence, 03-03-09 is a very special day for Network Revenue Management (NRM) Colleagues as we have a very special session with Dato' Sri Idris Jala, Managing Director, Malaysia Airlines.

Our mini ONEMH Town hall meeting was attended by 140 NRM colleagues covering Network Planning, Operations Planning, Revenue Management, Distribution, E-Commerce, Corporate Information Management, plus Aircraft Trading and Government and International Relations. 

Idris, with his very approachable, frank and easy to understand presentation skills, has kept the 140 audiences listened to him attentively for good 50 minutes.  He stressed to all that 2009 outlook remains bleak for the airline industry and it is the worst ever crisis in history. He urged for us all to be prepared and work as a team to see MAS through. He also shared the importance of 3 thrusts of OneMH and 7 Key Business Areas to survive this crisis. Many examples were used to illustrate his points across.

Good questions from the audience were put forward to Idris and he answered them very well and clear.  Questions asked range from dual pricing, providence of anti-trust, what are the drastic measures taken to cut costs to feedback on the recent introduction of B738 that EY seats were sold as Business Class. 

To mark the launch of OneMH at NRM, Idris handed bundles of "2009 Joint Message from CEO & CFO" to the reps from Network Planning, Operations Planning, Revenue Management, Distribution, E-Commerce, Corporate Information Management, plus Aircraft Trading and Government and International Relations. 

After which, all participants are treated with packed lunch with 4 choices (No onion/garlic vegetarian meal, Indian curry chicken, chicken rice and Nasi Campur Ayam).

It was a very enlightening session for our staff as some of them did not get to attend our 2009 MH Pulse Townhall in KLIA.   Idris urged all to start “MH”-ing each other before we extend the 5STARMH to external customers.  The 3C2S1A, HAT and experience gained in BTP1 & BTP2 will prepare Malaysia Airlines better to overcome the challenging time in 2009.  

By: Tan Jung Yee (Communications Division)

“Jung Yee, you’ve been selected to be one of the Juaras!” announced Zawaiah, my colleague, with a wide smile.

“Yay!” I replied, as she continued briefing me about what I needed to do.

I listened intently to what she had to say, taking down mental notes as best I could on the task needed to be done ahead- somewhat struggling to keep up to her pace.

Confused, I interrupted her, “But wait, um.. what is Juara?”

She looked at me- dumbfounded for a moment. Bet she wondered why hadn’t I stopped her if I had not known or understood what a Juara is. She collected herself after a short pause- realizing that I was only barely a month old in the company and continued animatedly explaining to me what or rather, who Juaras are.

Embarrassed to put this down in writing, though I have been schooled in both English and Malay- I wasn’t able to connect Juara to the word ‘champion’. What I understood from Juara was winner- not champion. Both words though synonymous, are fundamentally different in the context of Malaysia Airlines.

Champion. I pondered the word whilst Queen’s classic ‘We are the Champions’ played in my mind.

‘We are the champions my friend, and we’ll keep on fighting till the end..’

Little did I realise how aptly it applies to being a Juara.

With the guidance of fellow colleagues who were ex-Juaras(Zu), Juara-buddy (Zuraya) and Internal Communications, I came to learn what being a Juara meant.

Being a Juara is not only me nor the other chosen ones. I have seen in so many staff- the fighting spirit to keep Malaysian Hospitality alive, that have struggled with the company when it struggled, way before I joined. It is apparent in their eyes, words and actions that they truly believe in Malaysia Airlines. They are the embodiment of Juara.

What then, is my role?

Organizing two MHComms Day made me realize that my role is clear- simply to champion MH values within Comms Division by aligning everyone to start up initiatives that contributes to a common cause- to transform Malaysia Airlines. Afterall, the spirit is already there. It is just a matter of becoming one beating pulse. . .

United we stand. Divided we fall. Let’s unite!

Only two months in the company, and I find myself transformed...

2 Responses to “The Journey So Far..”
 

• Karenmarie says:

Hi Jung Yee:) This is Karen from CIMP

You’re at MAS now! congrats on being Juara! haha

March 12th, 2009 at 5:48 am

• Jung Yee says:

Hey Karen! Long time since i last bugged you~  I know who you are– there’s only one Karen Marie i know~ no need to say CIMP all all!

hehe yea, i’m very happy at MAS now but looking silly in the photo la *Shy*

where you at now?

March 13th, 2009 at 4:26 am

By: Kusoom Dahlan (Malaysia Airlines, Bangkok)

When I first joined the MH Juara workshop in 2007, I was wondering what role a Juara was supposed to play. How was I going to make my colleagues back home to understand MH concept? Would it work? Actually, could “I” make it work? I didn’t even know what to start with even though we had a tool kit as guideline.

When I came back, I just started with something simple and cozy like lunch together among staff (that’s the only activity I could think of in order to get staff together and make them listen to me!).  Every department brought food to share. It was after lunch that “the show” began. I started with what were MH values, the NSDW and tried to explain how we could link it to our work. It was quite abstract. Staff was attentive but had a “lost” looks in their faces like I was during the workshop!  We had trigger stickers and posters all around the office but I was not so sure if they would have any effect on staff’s way of thinking.

Then, the second activity: Go Green. This time it was an outdoor activity.

We went to grow young plants at a mangrove swamp in a Navy base nearby Bangkok. This was in line with the global campaign of “Global warming”. Imagine us wading through knee-height muddy water, chased by a snake, burnt by the sun but it turned out fun! Even the youngest member of our team, one of staff daughter who was only 8 years old, enjoyed it and said she would come back again if we had to do this again. Everybody was tired and thirsty and sweating but I could see smiles on their faces. Apart from those smiles and laughter, I also saw “teamwork” and “determination.” No one ever gave up and continued their tasks until we could meet our target of 200 trees!! I was thinking perhaps the MH values worked here. At least, when in need, it did show up, naturally and spontaneously. 

There came some other activities and every time staff would lend a hand. Ideas and suggestions came for next MH days. Actually, MH is in everyone. Only that YOU have to find ways to bring it out. With Asian culture, we are taught to be polite and respect elders and be kind to children. Thai culture and Malaysian culture have so many things in common, so it’s quite easy now for me to refer to MH Hospitality because we can apply Thai Hospitality here as well.

When I looked back, I realized that the first and foremost thing to start the Juara role is to “break the ice” among staff first. Start with something very natural and cozy like lunch together or maybe a picnic in the park. You may bring along your family. Children can play and have fun together while each staff have a chance to get to know each other in a more “intimate” atmosphere. Of course you cannot expect a 100% result but at least you may find that in such a relaxed moment, you will see each other more and that will lead to a better relationship at work. That’s my personal point of view.

I have one Juara friend whom I met during the 2nd workshop. She was quite desperate since most of her colleagues did not bother about this “Juara matters”. When we met again sometime later and I asked her about the Juara at her station, she smiled and said after she almost gave up.  She invited her colleagues to her birthday and they came and it started from there. This year I am so glad with her because she’s one of the Juaras who received the Anugerah award.

This year, at the workshop, there are quite a lot of new members who must have felt “lost” and not sure of what they are supposed to do when they go back, but with the guidelines and tools they received during the workshop, I’m quite positive that they will be able to deliver the MH message and make it come alive at their stations. They only need to have “faith” in MH. That’s the most important tool of all.

By: Amanda Anne Beaumont (Adelaide Call Center)

Wow – I was thrilled to be advised there would be another Juara Workshop and that all the Juaras were to attend. Not only would we be attending the workshop but we would have the privilege of attending the Town hall session and hearing our Leaders share the direction they will take the Company and how they will drive forward the challenges and opportunities that face us.

A night arrival into Kuala Lumpur was followed by a very early start the next morning to head off to Town hall.

Some of us are certainly not at our best with early starts (myself most definitely included) however all tiredness was immediately forgotten and yawns stilled as we were held captive by the motivation, professionalism and enthusiasm shown by our Leaders as they lead us along their pathway of guiding the Company onwards and upwards.

The next morning we were already a motivated bunch as we assembled for the Juara Workshop.  No bleary eyes despite still being short on sleep. Cries of pleasure,  at catching up with colleagues from around the globe – or finally meeting  face to face colleagues we had known so long only via email or telex, soon filled the room.

The mission this year is to drive the Customer Centric Culture linked to 5StarMH. Our motto – S.M.S. = Serve Customers, Make Money, Save Money. To help us along ... H.A.T. = Hope, Action, Teamwork.

As we fell to the activities with a vengeance, “HAT” was demonstrated time and time again – and showed how belief is such a strong motivator that we can attempt the impossible when we BELIEVE it is truly POSSIBLE.  For those who doubt, I will just say I wish I had a video of us dropping eggs from 2 stories height firmly believing they would not break thanks to our hastily arranged “baskets” made as teams, and the look of disbelief on all our faces when we did not achieve 100pc success rate.  Aim for the stars and you will surely hit the Sun was a message that came across loud and clear!As we fell to the activities with a vengeance, “HAT” was demonstrated time and time again – and showed how belief is such a strong motivator that we can attempt the impossible when we BELIEVE it is truly POSSIBLE.  For those who doubt, I will just say I wish I had a video of us dropping eggs from 2 stories height firmly believing they would not break thanks to our hastily arranged “baskets” made as teams, and the look of disbelief on all our faces when we did not achieve 100pc success rate.  Aim for the stars and you will surely hit the Sun was a message that came across loud and clear!

One Response to “MH Juaras - Hope, Action, Teamwork (H.A.T.)”

• Mary Ruxton-Lee says:

Wow, Mandy what a fantastic writeup..it sums up my personal feelings and perspective. It was exhilarating listening to all the TOPGUNS delivering their challenges to all present.The workshop was the ultimate, as it gave us a clearer picture of how each and every employee can & could deliver or achieve the challenges we all face if we work together cohesively. Yes MH BOLEH, with HAT & SMS , we as Jauras must ensure we work together to achieve the impossible.

March 4th, 2009 at 9:00 pm

By: Margaret, Khong Sook Peek (Malaysia Airlines Tawau)

2007 - The birth of MH Juaras system wide. I am really thankful to my manager for giving me the 'busybody' mandate as Juara in Tawau. After attending the 1st MH Juaras Workshop, I felt that I carry '100 kilos burden' back to Tawau. Do you know why '100 kilos burden'? - We were asked to plan and submit the idea. We need to do it into action in a fun way. This is really a great challenge for me.But thank God, with his divine intervention and with the commitment and support from all level of staff  for the last two years and through all the fun MH activities, Tawau staff has come to the point of 'teamwork' and everyone can talk to each other regardless of seniority.

The working environment has become part of the family and whatever the staff asks for assistance, the answer is always 'no problem' or 'tak ada masalah." Ampo & Ardiansyah shared that what they can really see now is - friendly (mesra), understanding (bertolak-ansur), kerjasama and commitment to their work. “Definitely, there are lots of rooms for improvement.Today, 12 February 2009, MH Juaras workshop falls on my birthday. Do you know how happy am I today?System wide MH Juaras are here to be with me and I am not alone though I am away from my family.

Wow, this year’s workshop run by the MH EEP committee was great and fun…. I like the games; I really had a great day. The games were really good. And it is all linked to your body, mind & soul.  Can you believe it, this workshop really squeezes us to think, talk less but act fast. No time for honeymoon. Why?  Because we are in a CRISIS, and we need to SMS - Serve Customers, Make Money & Save Money and wear HAT - Hope, Action, Teamwork and transform as 5 Star MH – Choices, Comfort, Convenience, Safety & Security, Award. A Juara needs to be like 'mummy' what we say is 'busybody'...to share this to our colleagues at Stations.  After the workshop, I was refreshed, challenge to do it again and now is time to talk less but DO IT like Nike.

My salutation to MH EEP committee for their effort, support and encouragement for the past years and to all my lovable, supportive colleagues in Tawau - YOU ARE GREAT AND YOU ALL HAVE MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMITMENT & GREAT SUPPORT . ‘Let’s Do it Again, and work together as oneMH  - Unite to Survive and Win. ‘BERSATU KITA TEGUH, BERCERAI KITA ROBOH’

2 Responses to “The Birth of MH Juaras”

John Yap says:

Keep up the good work. I was from TWU and had many good and fond memories of the good teamwork we had in respect of which department they are in.
An incident I would like to mention again regarding the Fokker 50 crash in the nineties where all the staff had stepped forward to contribute unselfishly and stood firmly behind the Company in times of needs. Their teamwork is worth mentioning again.
The OneMH spirit is always there.
Best regards
John
March 5th, 2009 at 7:30 am



Margaret says:

Hi John,
Thank you for the encouragement and will continue to keep up the good work and continue to strive 5 Star MH and teamwork.
Cheers
margaret
March 11th, 2009 at 8:11 am 

By: Rayhel Thomas (Internal Communications)

I have been involved in 4 town hall sessions - with the exception of the first one (where I was the emcee), for the other 3, I was part of the core planning and preparation team and emcee – there are usually 2 emcees to facilitate the whole day. Each session themed differently, brings different moments.

This is good because you always learn a new trick or two. There’s never a chance of complacency setting in for the team – we are always on our toes. As emcees we are like cats walking on a hot tin roof, because you never know what will happen next in spite of the rehearsals and dry-runs – Murphy’s Law  (anything that can go wrong will go wrong at the best time) prevails even to the best of us.

Our goodies giveaway at the townhall.

As the emcee, let me tell you, I have had my fair share of heart-stopping moments i.e. forgetting the next item on the agenda, jumping my script or fumbling names and designations. At that very moment, you wish the ground would just open up and swallow you in. But that never happens.

Catching up with colleagues during lunch break.

Vox pop - Our video crew surprised our staff

So, a good rule of thumb is to say So Sorry from the heart, smile nervously because you know you have bungled up big time, hope n’ pray that the audience forgives you, cheers you on and just keep you wits about you and move on to the next item, lah!!

So what is a Town Hall for Malaysia Airlines? It’s that once-a-year face-to-face event held at the auditorium where our MD/CEO shares with staff business direction for the year ahead and past year in review.

The official launch of our rally call for oneMH. Chairman Tan Sri Dato' Dr. Munir Majid pinned on the 1st oneMH button badges on our MD, Dato' Sri Idris Jala and ED, Tengku Dato' Azmil Zahruddin.

It’s an intense one day session and it’s meant that way.

We have a turnout of 550 – 600 staff (including staff from our international destinations). It’s just not possible to have everyone attend – so what is important is that those who attend must go back to their work areas to share and brief their teams at mini town halls or departmental meetings,  using their notes (which we hope many have taken) and cascade packs (that come with talking points too).

RAFFA says:

rayel, you really did a good work. The town hall session on February 11th was the first one for me and really appreciate it. we shared together bad and good moments (bad- because of the economical news MD shared with us- good because because of the nice team work moments we had).
Working in Teams and with a unite target gives you the strengh to go on…
Let’s be unite and share idea amd moments together………..raffa from Rom Town Office
March 17th, 2009 at 9:02 am

By: Sumathi T S Singham (Communications Division)

A total of 185 MH Juaras across our network converged at the Academy for a one day workshop. Their mission this year is to drive the Serve Customers thrust of oneMH and to push teams to drive a strong customer centric culture that is linked to 5Star MH i.e. Serve Customers, Make Money, Save Money.  Equipped with an updated tool kit, the first on the to-do list for MH Juaras is to work with their heads of divisions/departments/stations to brief teams on what they heard and learnt at the town hall session.

This year’s workshop focused on energizing MH Juaras, addressing their key challenges as MH Juaras and taking MH to the next level.

I was one of the secretariat team members.  Preparations began as early as mid December.  It was also my first time meeting the MH Juaras and I had difficulty identifying them.  Although we had prepared much earlier, and the final days saw us busy completing last minute things, we had to juggle ourselves to finish whatever needed to be done.

The day before the workshop, we had close to 600 staff attending the MH Pulse Town Hall and Anugerah MH awards as well as Malam oneMH.  This is an annual event where MD, Dato Seri Idris Jala shares the direction for the year.  This was my first experience being part of the MH EEP Team to organize such big events.

To help the MH Juaras, we came up with a Tool Kit which was distributed to each MH Juara at the workshop.  As part of the programme, 3 games were included in the Tool Kit.  The first game: Shaping 5Star MH – The game strengthens Unity and builds teamwork by sharing the same vision. The next game, Building the Tallest Twin Towers – This game is to create insights on how teams can thrive in the midst of change.  The last game Great Egg Drop – This game teaches to solve problems quickly and creatively through collaboration.  The final part of the workshop saw MH Juaras presenting their action plans to MD and the senior team.  The session ended with a robust dialogue with all MH Juaras and MD.  By the way, MD is Chief MH Officer – the walk on MH is led by him.

I went home feeling really tired but happy I was a part of the oneMH family.  I was touched by so many talents from various areas within the organization and the team effort put together to organize all three events.

One Response to “A Day for the Champions”
 

• Jan Everett says:

Greetings fellow Juaras

It was a wonderful experience to meet you all and to exchange ideas from our differing cultures. The day showed me that we can all work together as a team to drive OneMH and the Juara message across to all our colleagues. As I mentioned in the presentation - We all joined MH because we wanted to and we should be passionate in spreading the word - we are our company’s best advertisement and we need to keep the momentum going. It was great fun and a pleasure to meet you all and I look forward to catching up again in the not too distant future.

Jan Everett
Corporate Communications Officer
SYDTO

February 26th, 2009 at 3:17 am

• Open Letter from our Managing Director/CEO, Dato Sri Idris Jala which appeared in 'The Edge' on Saturday (15 November 2008).

After achieving a record profit of RM851 million in FY2007, we are determined to remain resilient in this highly challenging environment and to emerge as a winner.

Quick on the heels of rising fuel price which recorded a high of USD182 per barrel in July and which saw over 30 airlines declaring bankruptcy, global passenger traffic also fell for the first time in 5 years in September since the SARS crisis in 2003, with the onset of the economic crisis.

The result: Airlines worldwide, in all likelihood, will probably report combined losses of as much as USD5.2 billion in 2008. This is according to an estimate by the International Air Transport Association, whose members account for 93% of the world's air traffic. Believe it or not, this will be the biggest industry loss since 2003.

We are in the midst of the most difficult operating environment ever for the industry where many major airlines have lost money and others are reporting lower profits. Airlines which fail to swiftly adjust their strategies will not survive. Change – and I mean drastic change – is a must, and not an option.

What is Malaysia Airlines doing to remain resilient? We remain focused on our Business Transformation Plan, and we have fast tracked our vision of becoming The World’s Five Star Value Carrier. Underpinning our transformation is our 4 pillar strategy - dynamic pricing, network optimization, cost management and innovation.

Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing is a key pillar as it will help us grow our customer base. Like many airlines, our load factors are affected by overcapacity and liberalization, and we knew we had to act swiftly to attract customers. In May this year, we launched Everyday Low Fares or ELF. We are the first full service airline to offer rock-bottom low fares. On routes that we were not able to fill up our planes and had low loads, say 70% of capacity, we sold the remaining 30% cheaply. Intuitively, it appears that by doing this, we inevitably lose money because we are dropping fares drastically. But we made money, and our online revenue grew 150%.

Building on this success, we recently launched our All-Inclusive Low Fares promotion where we reduced our fuel surcharge by 50-73% for domestic travel, ASEAN and Australia. Customers loved the cheapest deals in town. Our sales surged 400%. Shortly after, we ran a `three days only Global Online Sale, which again chalked in high sales. We are currently running an All-Inclusive Low Fares Global Sale, and up next are various initiatives to strengthen our market share in Singapore and other ASEAN destinations.

We are winning market share and seeing strong increases in forward bookings with these initiatives. Our dynamic pricing strategy ensures that we are accurately managing the pricing and yields.

Fuel Surcharge

In recent weeks, fuel prices have fallen and many customers are asking the question: When will Malaysia Airlines reduce its fuel surcharge?

Fuel surcharge only provides us partial relief from the increased jet fuel cost, which remains high and volatile despite the recent correction. On average, the fuel surcharge that we impose only recovers about 40% of the fuel cost. Despite this, we have already reduced fuel surcharge on routes where this is justifiable from a competitive standpoint. Our policy is that our fares combined with the fuel surcharge must be competitive. For instance, we have already reduced our fuel surcharge for our All-Inclusive Low Fares promotion.

Our competitor analysis on a route by route basis shows that some airlines who reduced or removed their fuel surcharge actually maintain relatively high fares whilst other airlines which did not lower their fuel surcharge have reduced their fares. Consequently, it is often observed that what the customers ultimately pay for is the same in both cases. In the final analysis, it is the total sum of the parts that counts. After all, customers pay for both the fares and fuel surcharge. The total amount must be competitive.

We are closely monitoring the situation so that fuel surcharge can be adjusted on a route-by-route basis for us to remain competitive.

Network optimization

At the same time, like many other airlines, we have been embarking on network optimization strategy. The biggest US airlines are parking more than 460 planes and slashing capacity at least 10% to pare costs. With this strategy, Malaysia Airlines is looking at reducing capacity by 6.4% system wide and we are doing ad-hoc adjustments to ensure that we retain the correct balance in network and fleet utilization given supply and demand.

Having emerged from the peak of oil prices in July, the months from July to September posted many challenges to the travel segment in and within the region. The 2008 Olympic Games during this period saw visa restrictions impacting travel into China from the region and around the world. In this part of the region, the fasting month of Ramadhan resulted in less travel. In comparison, the fasting month last year was in the final quarter of the year.

All Asian carriers faced the same pressures as demand for air travel in the region shrunk significantly, while capacity was much higher than demand. Major carriers in the region have recently announced lower seat factors.

In addition, one should not compare load factors for all airlines equally. Load factors for regional carriers operating out of the financial centres such as Singapore and Hong Kong are predominantly long-haul whereas Malaysia Airlines has a diverse mix of domestic, regional and international. Comparing these carriers and Malaysia Airlines would be akin to comparing apples to oranges.

Ultimately, load factor is only one part of an equation which determines an airline’s profitability. An airline could easily get 100% load factor by selling every seat on a flight at a price of RM1 but it would be unlikely that that flight would breakeven, let alone be profitable, in spite of the 100% load factor.

Cost management

We are also doing things smarter, and faster at Malaysia Airlines. We are set to save RM1 billion this year through operational efficiency with various initiatives such as e-ticketing, fuel efficiency programmes, rationalization of facilities and customer service/ preference analysis.

Our cost management includes hedging. In the case of Malaysia Airlines, we have hedged about 48% of our fuel requirement at an average crude oil price of USD102 per barrel. As crude oil prices falls, there may be concerns of potential hedging losses from our fuel hedges. However, these potential losses are small, relative to the cost savings from our actual fuel consumption. Therefore, the decline in fuel prices is actually a net positive for Malaysia Airlines.

Innovation

Finally, and most importantly, we will continue to innovate to increase revenue. One of the key projects is Project Pit-stop to reduce aircraft turnaround time. This is done by being more efficient in all process aspects from boarding to the uplift of meals, with continuous safety and customer comfort in mind. We have started this project with the B737-400 plane for domestic flights, and hope to expand this project to cover other aircraft soon.

We are committed to delivering the highest quality at affordable prices under our vision of being the World's Five Star Value Carrier. A contradiction in terms, you might say but we are succeeding. We continue to be rated as having one of the best cabin services of any airline in the world. We have won many awards for the quality of our products and services.

Malaysia Airlines is attractively valued

Some analysts have taken Price to Book as a valuation matrix for Malaysia Airlines. However, we do not believe that this is an accurate valuation methodology as we lease all our aircraft. This translates into a lighter book value as the leased aircraft are not represented as assets on the balance sheet. This is different from other major airlines which have a portion of their fleet represented in their balance sheet. Valuing Malaysia Airlines by using a Price to Book value will always result in us appearing deceptively overvalued.

Perhaps a better methodology for valuing Malaysia Airlines would be to use a multiple based on the value of the firm as a whole or how efficiently the airline is able to generate profits for its shareholders. Using these methodologies, MAS has a compelling valuation and is currently trading at attractive Price-Earnings (PE) multiple of just 5 times and Enterprise Value to EBITA (EV/EBITDA) of less than 1 time. Our nearest competitors are currently traded at PE multiples of between 7 times and 9 times respectively.

There are also concerns about potential forex losses from the weakening of the ringgit against the USD. Although the generally weak ringgit against the USD is somewhat not favourable to us as a substantial portion of our cost components are driven by the USD, this is mitigated by our expanding maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business with revenue in USD. Our MRO business is expected to generate revenue of RM400 million this year. This is a massive improvement from RM100 million in 2005.

 Aviation Week, a major aviation magazine has ranked us second after SIA (amongst all the airlines in the world) as being in the best shape to face the current challenges citing the underlying survivability factors as underpinned by disciplined operational improvements, sound management, focus on efficiency and liquidity.

Given all that is being done, will Malaysia Airlines be resilient? The answer: Yes. We are committed to ensure that we emerge as a winner in these challenging times. I have confidence in our ability to weather the storm because the 20,000 staff in Malaysia Airlines has an enduring commitment to keep the Malaysian flag flying sky high.

Thank you, Malaysia, for supporting us.

7 Responses to “Staying Resilient after Remarkable Comeback”

November 20th, 2008 at 6:20 am

• holidays in Malaysia says:

malaysia airlines is the best low cost carrier. it’s very nice n helpful. makes everybody flying.
Cheers,

November 20th, 2008 at 9:50 am 

• Mike O'Neill says:
  

Well done for Idris staying on this man has a plan and his finger on the pulse for the future as well.

November 24th, 2008 at 11:17 am

• Zaileen Hashim says:

Hi Adrian,

In our BTP2 we spoke about our fuel efficiency programme. In short, it is part of our various operational initiatives to save RM1 billion this year. We have introduced fuel efficiency measures such as identifying closer alternate airports, revising taxi fuel policy at stations, optimising uplift of fuel, water and meals and many other similar initiatives. We also implemented IATA’s best practices (GO team recommendations)on fuel efficiency.

Thank you for visiting the Living MH Blog!

December 2nd, 2008 at 1:39 am

•  Hafidz Fikri Abdul Aziz says:
  

Dear Idris,

I would like to congratulate you for the further 3 year extension of your contract as Chief MH Officer.I must say that you have done a brilliant job in turning MAS around into a profit making 5 Star Airline.I must admit that there have been times in the past when I was an Employee with MAS that I was a bit sceptical about certain parts of your management philosophy.But fortunate to say that your philosophy has proven itself especially in this challenging times of Global Economic Turmoil.

Eventhough I am working for Rolls Royce now, I still actively keep up with what is going on in MAS.I have read your article in the ‘My Say’ column two weekends ago and I must say that it does make a lot of good sense.It is also nice to know that MAS has been ranked together with Singapore Airlines as the Top 2 airlines in the world now that are resilient to the current economic situation.I wish you all the best in your next 3 years as Cheif MH Officer and I also hope that you will continue to steer MAS to greater heights.I also hope that I would also be able to keep in touch with you from time to time and probably meet up with you again at some point in the future.

“Congratulations Idris for a job Well Done”

Thank you and regards,

Your former Employee
Hafidz Fikri Abdul Aziz

December 2nd, 2008 at 5:33 am

•  H P Gunther says:

Your business class seat modules as currently installed have enough space to make the seats recline fully horizontal, to offer “flat bed” comfort. Most major international carriers are now offering flat-bed seats in business class. It’s the new world standard. Your engineering department could explore a modification to the seat mechanism to effect full horizontal reclination if you can’t afford to buy new flat-bed seats.
Best regards,

H P Gunther

February 11th, 2009 at 10:44 am

•  Azmil Hisham Abdul Rahman says:
  

Dear Gunther,

Thank you for your comment via our Living MH Blog.

We have thought about converting our Business Class seats from an “angled” flat bed to a true horizontal flat bed and have explored the idea with the seat manufacturer. Unfortunately the structure and mechanism does not support a modification for full horizontal conversion. Whilst it may be true that on board our B777 there may be enough space in BCL to possibly install the latest generation true horizontal flat bed without displacing further seats it is not possible to just “modify” the existing model to go horizontal. Unfortunately the purchase of a brand new model is required to do this. For installation to be carried out on our B747, we discovered the need to remove quite a number of seats within the current Business Class zones to accommodate a true horizontal flat bed seat. At the end of the day full horizontal seats takes a lot of cabin real estate and it’s a balancing act of product features versus what the pax is willing to pay for the fares.

We thank you for your feedback.

Azmil Hisham Abdul Rahman
Assistant General Manager
Product Development and Services

April 3rd, 2009 at 4:47 am

By: Manroop Kaur (Malaysia Airlines Penang)

Dato’Sri Idris Jala our Managing Director made a Turun Padang visit to Penang station on the 19th of September 2008.

It is a rare opportunity for staff members to hear of latest developments in the Company especially when it comes from our Dato’ Sri Idris Jala himself who has made so many changes and turn around successions for the Company’s profitability in staying ahead during our most challenging of times.

In conjunction with our Dato’ Sri Idris Jala visit to Penang and as the coordinator at Northern Region for this special visit by Dato’ Sri Idris Jala to station, it was a great experience and learning process personally for me, especially in liaising with key role players in the Northern Region and HQ team members for the said visit. I would say the overall success and smooth flow of events planned throughout Dato’ Sri Idris Jala visit to Penang was prudent by the camaraderie displayed by the key role players and support from the respective Northern Regions Heads of Departments and Area Manager Northern Region.

Although a certain amount of time was involved in the visit arrangements, the time and efforts were all worth while as Dato’ Sri Idris Jala visit was fruitful and we staff were able to hear personally from Dato’ Sri Idris Jala himself on Company’s performances, profits and losses made, challenges ahead and measures that needed to be taken to stay ahead of challenging times.

The most important and valuable message to all staff by Dato’ Sri Idris Jala was to ‘Be United’ and work together.

Dato’ Sri Idris Jala visit proved to be a valuable one to all the respective staffs from the various departments in the Northern Region as those who were able to attend the session were able to hear directly Dato’ Sri Idris Jala on MH’s developments.

Staff were also impressed and happy by Dato’ Sri Idris Jala presentation as it was an open view of our financial standings till to-date.

For the success of the visit and on behalf of the other staff members from the Northern Region, I wish to thank Dato’ Sri Idris Jala for giving us the encouragements and in guiding us towards the right track in moving ahead in achieving our vision and mission.

By: Tengku Dato' Azmil Zahruddin (Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer)

It’s been nearly three years since I joined MAS and it’s been an amazing time! One of the things that has really made me feel really proud has been to see the changes that have happened in MAS in this time. It has been a difficult but rewarding journey for us in doing the turnaround. It’s fair to say that going through that journey has changed many of us. Whereas in the past, we may have had a tendency to say that ‘it can’t be done’, it’s now about ‘what can we do to implement this quickly’.

The changes in our people in terms of attitude and ability to get things done have been fantastic. In doing the turnaround, we never spoke of cultural change nor did we try to implement programmes specifically to change culture.  Instead, we just went ahead to do the things that we needed to do, and in so doing changed ourselves.

Our ability to get things done is now to a level that when we work together with other airlines or other companies, they seem to operate slowly by comparison. This is something that we will need to rely on even more in the current tough times.  MAS is no stranger to ups and downs and we have had our fair share of turbulence in the past.  However, this may well be the toughest challenge we have ever faced. Unprecedented fuel prices, coupled with a weakening economy and overcapacity are pushing the entire industry into crisis.

We will need to draw on all our resources to face the storm that is coming.  It would be fair to say that despite the fantastic progress we have made so far, there is still a lot more to be done.  Whereas many parts of MAS have been transformed, others are still catching up.  We have many competitors who are strong and nimble and we need to be better than what we are now in order to survive. In order to do this, we need to implement our Business Transformation Plan and more.

I believe that many airlines will not survive this storm and when we get to other side (and I sincerely believe that we will), the industry will be different from the one we know now. We must make sure that we are one of the ones still left standing.  Given what we have achieved so far, I am very confident that we can do this.