I refer to the clip calling for Malaysia Airlines to rethink its business model without offering any suggestions. Let’s not harp on the past.
The problem that Malaysia Airlines is facing now came about due to two main reasons — not because of a wrong business model: the Covid-19 pandemic and the poaching of staff.
Covid-19
During the pandemic, everything slowed down.
In aviation, aircraft production stopped or if not slowed, and very few came out of the production line. So was the manufacturing of parts. Staff, including pilots and engineers, were laid off. Training of these technical staff stopped. The industry got caught.
Post-Covid with heavy demand for air travel, airlines got caught short of aircraft. Their delivery of aircraft orders was not made on time, simply because the production was….SLOW.
Those with excess aircraft were lucky. But those without, have to bear the consequences.
Malaysia Airlines is one of them. They don’t have enough aircraft to cover the services. It is normal for big airlines to have a few extra, as backup. But because of non or slow delivery, they don’t have enough to support the disruptions that might occur.
So as not to tarnish its image, the airline must not “overtrade” its services. Forget about mounting more schedules than the time the aircraft can cope.
To put it another way, operate within your capability, with spare aircraft as backup to cover the disruptions.
Poaching of staff
It’s nothing new. It happens to all professions. It’s human nature, they want more money. They’ll go for the one which pays more. Is it difficult to understand?
When this is seen going to happen, you have to stop it by coming up with a counteroffer. This is very important when you deal with specialists. They cannot be trained overnight. To make it worse, the training stopped during Covid time.
Now it is happening to the engineers. If we don’t learn from this, next it’s going to happen to the pilots’ group. This is where the airline, especially those in HR, and those involved in manpower planning, must be mindful.
The airline business is very complex. It doesn’t involve revenue generation for profitability only. It involves operations, engineering, customer service, in-flight catering, cargo, ground handling, sales and marketing, schedule reliability, security, manpower requirement, fare structure and most importantly which is not to be compromised, FLIGHT SAFETY.
All must work in unison, supporting and complementing one another.
Do we know the story about human anatomy? All body parts are important.
Don’t undermine the part, you know what l mean. If it does not cooperate and refuses to open up, you’ll have a bloated stomach, your eyes will pop out, and your hands will shiver.
All staff are important. Take care of them. To all, money matters. But the root cause is Covid-19.
We all got fooled. And now we are facing the consequences.
No need to rethink the new business model. Just operate within your means. At the same time, take care of what you have. The staff, l mean.
With competition with others offering better, you are going to lose them.
To the airline, you owe the duty to keep the general public informed.
Just like the pilots, you must inform your passengers of any abnormal happenings. Otherwise, they will curse you. They deserve to know if the aircraft cannot depart on time or any other delay for whatever reason.
Communication is important. – September 4, 2024
Capt Kamil Abu Bakar served as Director of Flight Operations for Malaysia Airlines. He was also the chief pilot, Flight Safety & Security director and member of the International Advisory Committee of Flight Safety Foundation.