KHAZANAH Nasional Bhd should take responsibility for the latest resignation of Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Peter Bellew and withdraw its management team, said the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam).

“Khazanah does not know how to manage an airline. They are only good at giving instructions and using the government’s name to reject internal changes,” said Nufam president Ismail Nasaruddin at a press conference this afternoon.

“Khazanah has managed MAS for a long time now, but the problems never seem to end.”

Nufam also questioned if Khazanah had prior knowledge of Bellew’s resignation.

Irish budget airline Ryanair’s announcement on Tuesday that Bellew would return to its fold as chief operating officer on December 1 came as a shock to MAS, as Bellew had publicly said last month that he would stay with MAS.

Bellew said his return to Ryanair was a form of “national service”.

Bellew joined MAS on September 1, 2015, as COO, following a restructuring plan by Khazanah that saw the retrenchment of 6,000 MAS employees.

He took over the post of CEO from Christoph Mueller on July 1 last year after the German quit MAS less than a year into his contract, citing personal reasons.

Bellew is the second CEO to leave earlier than the contract period. Mueller left two years before the end of his contract. – October 20, 2017.

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