KUALA LUMPUR: Whichever course of action taken to rescue Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) need to take employees' welfare into consideration, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government hoped that no staff would be laid off in efforts to improve the airlines’ performance and cut back its losses.
"However, if they (MAB) decides to work with another company, then it will be their prerogative to downsize or not," he said in reply to a supplementary question by Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) who had asked if the national carrier would be sold to a foreign company.
Dr Mahathir said the then Barisan Nasional-led government had on Aug 29, 2014 through Khazanah Nasional Bhd as the major stakeholders, launched the five-year Malaysia Airlines recovery plan (MRP), to put the airlines back in the black in 2018.
"After five years, MAB achieved successes in improving operation and passenger service, luggage and punctuality. But these successes are not reflected in the financial performance of Malaysia Airlines which is still recording losses due to external factors.
Dr Mahathir added Malaysia Airlines Group Bhd is currently working with Khazanah to review strategies, including takeover.
He said efforts to increase profit and rationalise costs are also being looked into through strategic collaborations with other airlines such as Japan Airlines that would bring economic benefits to both carriers.
"We are now in a challenging market. When Malaysia Airlines was established, there were no low-cost carriers, but now we have to compete with airlines that offer cheaper rates to passengers.
"There were many proposals from companies but we have yet to make any decision whether to sell, collaborate, or participate in the airline's recovery.
"But we want its identity as the national carrier to be retained and related to our country, Malaysia. We can't sell the company and have its name changed." he added.