Malaysia Airlines has just announced a profit after a decade of losses since the MH370 and MH17 tragedies. However, new problems have arisen that now Malaysia Airlines faces closer scrutiny, according to SCMP.
A series of aircraft problems have forced the Malaysian airline to cut flights and routes, hampering its plans to reopen services in Europe.
The latest incident involving Malaysia Airlines occurred on September 11, when a Boeing 737 bound for Bali had to return to Kuala Lumpur shortly after takeoff. It was the sixth such incident since August, raising alarms about the airline’s safety record, which has been marred by the disappearance of MH370 and the downing of MH17 in 2014, which killed 537 people.
The burden of past tragedies, combined with ongoing technical troubles, affects Malaysia Airlines' future prospects.
On August 26, Malaysia Airlines announced a temporary 20% reduction in flights, cutting popular routes to destinations such as Bangkok, Bali, Jakarta, Osaka, Shanghai and Singapore.
Izham Ismail, the airline's chief executive of parent company Malaysia Aviation Group, said the airline's troubles were due to original equipment manufacturers being responsible for shortages of key aircraft components.
Global aircraft maintenance demands also impacted availability at maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities, compounding Malaysia Airlines' woes.
These are challenges not unique to Malaysia Airlines, SCMP notes. Cathay Pacific recently grounded all of its Airbus A350s after discovering an engine failure on a flight to Zurich, Switzerland.
According to SCMP, Malaysia Airlines has received sympathy for quickly handling recent problems, even though its net profit is certain to be affected due to having to cut a quarter of its flight routes.
However, aviation analyst Shukor Yusof of Endau Analytics points out that many of the airline’s troubles are internal. Prior to 2017, Malaysia Airlines had five CEOs in 15 years, in contrast to the stable leadership of successful airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines, which “had the same leader for more than a decade”.
The airline's tumultuous history, which was marred by the MH370 tragedy, also includes the short but impactful tenure of Christoph Mueller, who joined the airline in 2015. Under his leadership, Malaysia Airlines cut a third of its 20,000 employees - including many skilled engineers - and sold off strategic assets. After just 17 months, Mueller left, citing "changes in personal circumstances".
The consequences of Christoph Mueller's decisions are still being felt today, industry insiders say.
Many former Malaysia Airlines engineers have sought opportunities abroad, landing positions with Gulf carriers such as Etihad, Emirates, Kuwait Airways, Saudia and Oman Air. Others have moved to Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong, China, shifting gears in an increasingly competitive market.
Domestically, Malaysia Airlines also faces fiercer competition for human resources as companies such as AirFrance Industrie, KLM Engineering and Maintenance... have re-hired former engineers from the airline.
