KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) outgoing executive chairman Dr. Nungsari Ahmad Radhi has confirmed his resignation from his current role.
Nungsari said he had tendered his resignation on his 60th birthday on April 10.
It was learnt that Nungsari’s resignation letter was sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
However, it is still uncertain on whether the current administration under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government had accepted Nungsari’s resignation.
“The current government sacked me from Majlis Amanah Mara and asked me to step down from Khazanah Research Institute.
“(These) appointments were made by the previous government. So it is proper that I resigned from Mavcom too,” he told the New Straits Times when contacted today.
He added that his resignation was the “principle of things”, saying that he was fine with the decision.
With over 30 years in academia, corporate advisory, economic research and policy advocacy, Nungsari previously served as a commissioner at Mavcom since its inception on March 1, 2016.
Nungsari reportedly had agreed to take a hefty pay cut with over 80 per cent reduction in the monthly pay package, which was set at RM15,000, or RM70,000 reduction in the monthly salary earned by his predecessor Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad.
Asked on the fate of Mavcom prior to his sudden resignation, he said the commission would focus on post Covid-19 in the local aviation sector.
He said the sector was worst hit by the global Covid-19 pandemic as travel had almost stopped, forcing airlines to be essentially grounded thereby putting them in serious financial distress.
Meanwhile, Nungsari said the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) would focus on reversing Malaysia’s downgrade from Category 1 to Category 2 to address the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The previous Pakatan Harapan government via the Transport Ministry had in mid-December last year announced it would dissolve Mavcom as the regulatory body’s main functions would be transferred to CAAM.
The ministry said the decision was made to rationalise the aviation industry, after having approval from the Cabinet on December 11 last year.
It is also learnt that CAAM was still finding a new chief executive officer role, following the resignation of Ahmad Nizar Zolfakar last November.