KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the parent company of national carrier Malaysia Airlines, has only received four out of the 13 Boeing 737-8 aircraft it was supposed to get by this year.
MAG will also only receive three out of the four Airbus A330neo aircraft the European company initially agreed to provide, said MAG group managing director Datuk Izham Ismail in a statement today.
The 17 new aircraft orders were part of MAG’s fleet modernisation programme to support its growth requirements, he added.
“The global shortage of parts has affected the on-time delivery of our new aircraft orders, which in turn has impacted our fleet planning.”
Izham also said global shortages due to a lack of resources are causing delays in the production of spare parts by aircraft and parts manufacturers, leading to longer turnaround times for engine overhauls and repairs.
He said this has impacted MAG’s fleet, which relies on external partners for such services, resulting in a lack of engines for its operations.
“Despite these challenges, MAG has maintained the quality of its maintenance work, managing both internally and externally, even with the associated high costs and financial impacts.”
He noted that MAG is working closely with its stakeholders – including regulators and manufacturers – to effectively address operational challenges while ensuring timely and reliable delivery of spare parts.
Besides that, Izham attributed MAG’s reduction in skilled workforce as being due to the entrance of new maintenance, repair and overhaul players – both local and international – into the Malaysian market.
“To address this, we are collaborating with partners to augment our manpower and increase our skilled engineering workforce and we have improved remuneration packages to sustain a strong talent pipeline for MAG.
“We apologise and understand the frustration this has brought to our customers, and wish to assure our team is working diligently to provide affected customers with compensation options available which include flight reallocations, and full refunds without any penalty charges,” he added.
He also said that ahead of the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia’s (CAAM) latest directive, MAG had taken proactive steps to reduce capacity to ensure safe and reliable operations.
The reduced network involves 20% of MAG’s capacity comprising Firefly, Malaysia Airlines and its umrah and haj pilgrimage arm Amal’s routes in Malaysia, South East Asia, North Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Greater China, South Asia and the Middle East.
Last Saturday, MAG announced that it will reduce its flights and routes between now and December 2024 to take “corrective measures”, following service disruptions that have plagued its aircraft recently.
Following operational difficulties which led to frequent flight delays, CAAM also reduced Malaysia Airlines’ air operator certificate validity period from three years to one. According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, the shorter validity period will mean more frequent audits on the flag carrier.
Malaysia Airlines will also be implementing a mitigation plan, Loke added. This includes aggressively recruiting skilled labour, enhancing the aircraft’s safety standards and reducing MAB Engineering Services’ scope of maintenance, repair and overhaul for third parties to prioritise Malaysia Airlines aircraft. – August 29, 2024