Idris Jala, Axiata’s Jamaludin tipped to run MAS
Malaysia Airlines will likely see changes to its top management following news that Khazanah will take the struggling national carrier private.
Sources said the rescue and restructuring plan, which Khazanah Nasional Bhd had said could be revealed as early as the end of this month, would include personnel changes and not just a financial overhaul.
Those likely to be dropped are its group chief executive officer (CEO) Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, commercial director Hugh Dunleavy and senior vice-president of sales and distribution Duncan Bureau.
Khazanah, which currently owns 69% of MAS but will end up with 100% via the privatisation move, is looking at several potential candidates for the top job at a reconstituted MAS.
They could include Datuk Seri Jamaludin Ibrahim who heads Khazanah’s telco unit Axiata Group Bhd, and Datuk Seri Idris Jala who served as MAS CEO between 2005 and 2009, before he was appointed a senator and minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
Idris, who was instrumental in coming up with the Business Turnaround Plan 1 and Business Transformation Plan 2 then, was reappointed a senator in September 2012.
It is understood that he will not continue in government service after his current term ends in September 2015 because senators can only hold office for a term of six years and there is a two-consecutive-term limit.
Last week, Idris was quoted as saying that MAS management should stick to the business transformation plan he had introduced as it contained step-by-step processes for the airline to stay afloat.
Jamaludin, who was previously CEO of Maxis Bhd, was picked to head Axiata in 2008. During the five years under him, Axiata’s market capitalisation grew from RM8.5 billion as at March 31, 2009 to RM59 billion as at end-2013.
An industry observer said Idris and Jamaludin have their individual merits that Khazanah would consider.
“Having been CEO of MAS for four years, Idris understands the company, the business and what needs to be fixed, so he can hit the ground running,” he said.
“On the other hand, Jamaludin has delivered for Khazanah with what he has done at Axiata and he is certainly one of their top CEOs.”
Both men are also said to be very people-oriented and will probably be able to build better relationships with the staff.
Malaysian Airline System Employees Union (Maseu), the largest employees union in MAS, has repeatedly called for the resignation of Ahmad Jauhari.
Dunleavy and Bureau were previously executive vice-president of strategy and planning and vice-president of sales and airline partnerships respectively at Canadian airline WestJet.
“I hope whoever they choose as the new CEO of MAS is someone with a deep and intimate knowledge of the aviation industry and can make independent decisions,” said Shukor Yusof, analyst and founder of aviation research firm Endau Analytics.
MAS’ net loss widened to RM1.17 billion for the financial year ended December 2013 (FY13) from a net loss of RM432.59 million in FY12 and RM2.52 billion in FY11 respectively.
On August 8, Khazanah had announced its plan to delist MAS via a selective capital reduction and repayment exercise of 27 sen per share, which would take six to 12 months to complete.
Reuters yesterday reported that MAS has postponed the release of its second-quarter earnings from Wednesday until August 28. Analysts are expecting its earnings to worsen after the double tragedies of flights MH370 and MH17.
MAS shares closed unchanged at 25.5 sen yesterday. – The Edge Financial Daily, August 20, 2014.
