by A. Kadir Jasin
Many people are already aware of the scheduling problems and technical issues being experienced by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) these days. With the mass media having reported extensively on those matters, there’s no need for me to repeat those difficulties encountered by our national flag carrier.
It might be more beneficial if I recounted a similar or near-similar past event to the current situation faced by MAS. Who knows, there might be even something to learn from it.
For this purpose, I will travel back in time to 1990 — the year that the “Visit Malaysia Year” campaign was introduced. Since it was a global promotion, it was branded “Fascinating Malaysia: Year of Festivals” with the theme song “To know Malaysia is to love Malaysia.”
The campaign received extraordinary response. That year, 7.4 million visitors arrived compared to 4.8 million in 1989. At that time, MAS was the sole local air carrier and therefore reaped the windfall from the successful promotional campaign.
The windfall, however, also exposed various weaknesses in the national airline. It did not have the capacity to accommodate the sudden increase in passengers amidst its ageing aircraft fleet. Passengers began to complain of its significantly deteriorating level of service while attempting to accommodate as many passengers as possible.
Coincidentally, around that time, one of its Boeing 737 aircraft (possibly the classic 737-200) experienced damage to the radar dome while attempting to land at the Sultan Abdul Halim Airport in Alor Setar.
A newspaper which I headed then had published a picture of the aircraft’s nose with a news item questioning whether it was a bird strike or a maintenance issue. Following the publication, I was summoned by the then Prime Minister where we had a “debate” for almost an hour over bird strikes and maintenance issues. More accurately, he lectured me on aeronautics and aviation.
He was somewhat disappointed with the “treatment” by local newspapers over reports on MAS at that time which he felt were too negative, to the extent of even using the label of “flying coffins” for the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft that were leased to improve passenger capacity. But the nickname for that widebody aircraft was actually given by MAS staff themselves!
Fortunately, I knew quite a bit about aeronautics and aviation then as I was keen on the subject. As early as 1971, I wrote about bird strike issues at the Wanganui Airport in New Zealand for the “Wanganui Evening Mail,” where I was stationed as I furthered my journalism training.
Over the years, I had also visited Boeing’s factory in Seattle and Pratt & Whitney’s plant in Connecticut in the United States; Fokker in Amsterdam in the Netherlands; Hindustan Aeronautics in Bangalore, India; Airbus in Toulouse, France; and British Aerospace in Farnborough in the UK. (My son incidentally graduated in aerospace engineering in the United States and is now working in the local aviation industry).
Shortly after the “debate/lecture” with the then PM, I noticed that plans were also put into action for fleet renewal and route expansion under a privatisation strategy. With a larger and more efficient fleet, MAS was then able to expand its network in Europe, Australia, East Asia, North and South America, and Africa.
Unfortunately, during the 1997-98 the Asian Financial Crisis, Asian currencies, including the ringgit, plummeted in value. This caused the national carrier’s foreign debt to balloon. With MAS caving in under pressure, its shareholding was reverted to government control.
Subsequently, various people, who were amply rewarded with fat remunerations and perks, came up with various formulas to try to steer the airline towards the glory days it once knew. But success is still elusive. The rest is history.
A. Kadir Jasin is a National Journalism Laureate. This opinion piece has been edited and translated from its original in Bahasa Malaysia in Facebook.
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