The Malaysian Airlines System Employees Union (MASEU) today expressed dissatisfaction over the explanation given by the airline’s management on the company’s collaboration with budget carrier AirAsia Bhd. Its president, Alias Aziz, said the explanation by MAS managing director Ahmad Jauhari Yahya yesterday on the share swap between MAS and AirAsia was not satisfactory. “As such, we have decided to write to the prime minister. We want to meet Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to convey our views and opposition to the MAS-AirAsia deal,” he told a news conference at the MASEU office in Subang Jaya near here.
Alias requested MAS to buy back its shares sold to AirAsia and return the AirAsia shares it had bought. Read HERE.
Until this day, the former BinaFikir Sdn Bhd’s whiz kid, En Mohamed Rashdan Yusof (Rashdan), and/or his former business partner in BinaFikir Sdn Bhd and MD of Khazanah Holding Bhd, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, dare not announce the details of the “Collaborative Framework”. The whiz kid and his partner were also the consultants for the restructuring of MAS under “Widespread Asset Un-bundling” aka “WAU” in 2003. Under WAU, 70% of MAS Catering Sdn Bhd was coincidentally sold to Gubahan Saujana Sdn Bhd, a company related to Datuk Ibrahim Bin Hj Ahmad Badawi, the brother of the former PM and now the MAS advisor. Subsequent to the said sale, MAS, headed by Tan Sri Md Nor Md Yusof, signed an exclusive agreement to purchase all its food supplies, beverages and other cabin services from MAS Catering Sdn Bhd for 25 years. A few months after the sale of the said 70%, the name of MAS Catering Sdn Bhd was changed to LSG Sky Chef – Brahim’s Sdn Bhd. Read HERE.
After the secret share swap, we could only see the systematic cannibalisation of Firefly and MAS profitable routes and decisions made so far were not in the best interest of MAS. During the recent Raya season, MAS management under the whiz kid Rashdan had terminated several of Firefly full load flights. From 15-9-2011 Firefly’s profitable routes form JB to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu were terminated. From 3-10-2011 (today) MAS’s profitable route to Bandung, Indonesia, has also been terminated.
After the signing of the said secret share swap, this whiz kid Rashdan can’t wait to sponsor QPR home jersey for RM18 million. Read HERE “QPR’s Tony Fernandes looking to build bridges – as well as his fortune”. At the same time we were constantly told that MAS was making huge losses and “needed to be saved” like what has been done under “WAU”. Hence came the signing of the secret MAS – AirAsia share swap between Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Tune Air Sdn Bhd where Khazanah Nasional Bhd will hand over 20.5% of its share in MAS to Tune Air Sdn Bhd and Tune Air Sdn Bhd will hand over 10% of its AirAsia Bhd’s share to Khazanah Sdn Bhd. Khazanah Nasional Bhd has the option to purchase 10% of AirAsia X Bhd. Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar has confessed during the meeting with several bloggers including your truly that the option to purchase AirAsia X Sdn Bhd was a “DODGY DEAL”. If it was a dodgy deal then why Khazanah Nasional Bhd instructed Morgan Stanley Investment Bank to carry out a valuation of AirAsia X Sdn Bhd. It was an act of futility and a waste of public fund. How on earth such an equation was reached when MAS is an asset back corporation and AirAsia Bhd has little asset? Only the highly qualified consultants of BinaFikir Sdn Bhd’s standing can educate us on this!
It was also reported in the Star that MAS has radically revamped the line of reporting and divisions, where its new MD /group CEO En Ahmad Jauhari Yahya will focus on long-haul operations. The whiz kid Rahsdan has been promoted from executive director to deputy CEO and he will look after the airline’s short-haul operations. Read HERE.
After almost two months of inking the secret share swap that was supposed to “SAVE” MAS, nothing much have been done except the above. Long and short haul operations should not be separately managed.
The new MAS management should tell us what had happened to all the business plans and strategies that had been done by the previous management under Tengku Azmil. Your truly believes that many man hours and money have been spent by MAS to put in place those plans and strategies. Looking at MAS accounts, MAS has been making profits for its domestic routes. Its losses came from the international routes due to stiff competition. Other international airlines also suffer similar losses due to stiff competitions by Middle Eastern airlines. As for MAS, leakages had to be immediately plugged.
Well, your truly believes that the whiz kid Rashdan and his former business partner will continue to exhibit their arrogance by not responding to your truly’s calls to them to disclose the details of the so-called “Collaborative Framework” under the secret share swap, the above questions will not be entertained. Read HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE & HERE.
Since they chose to keep mum. Your truly will have to seek all helps from Parliament, which resumed today, to get all the answers.
